BX 



Junior History 

of 

Methodism 




THE OLD RIGGING LOFT 
Where Captain Webb and Embury Preached 



W. G. KOONS 



Class 

Book 

GopyiigM^J? 

COraRIGHT DEPOSm 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF 
METHODISM 

For Young People 
Study Classes in Epworth League 
AND THE General Reader 

BY 

WILLIAM G. KOONS 

With an Introduction by 

DAVID G. DOWNEY 




THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN 
NEW YORK CINCINNATI 




Copyright, 1900, 1909, by 
EATON & MAINS. 

Copyright, 191 2, 191 6, 1922, by 
WILLIAM G. KOONS. 



Printed in the United States of America 



First Edition Printed May, 1900 
Reprinted February, 1901; November, 1905; April, 1906; March, 1907 
January, 1908; Revised and Reprinted March. 1909; June, 1910 
Revised and Reprinted November, 1912; January, 1914 
April, 1915; September, 1916; December, 1917; April, 1919 
Revised and Reprinted July, 1922 



SEP 12 1922 



©CI.A683155 



CONTENTS 



Chapter page 

Preface to Second Edition 7 

Introduction 9 

I. The Cradle of Methodism 11 

II. Ancestors of the Wesleys 14 

III. Wesley's Childhood Home 17 

IV. Oxford College and the Holy Club 22 

V. The Wesleys in America 26 

VI . The Beginning of Methodist Experience . . 30 

VII. First Methodist Preaching 34 

VIII . The First Society and the First Church . . 38 

IX. Other Important Beginnings 41 

X. Some Giants of Those Days 45 

XI. Methodism Planted in America 49 

XII. Methodism Grows Rapidly 53 

XIII. Stormy Days of the Revolution 58 

XIV. Heroic Methodism 62 

XV. The Church Organized in America 66 

XVI. Growing North, South, East, and West... 70 

XVII. Some Great Branches of the Main Tree.. 74 

XVIII. English Methodism Since the Death of 

Wesley 77 

XIX. American Methodism, 1844 — 81 

XX. Most Recent Events in Methodism 85 

XXI. A Glimpse at Home Mission Fields 88 

XXII, A Glimpse at Foreign Mission Fields 92 

XXIII. Methodist Women at the World Task.... 96 

XXIV. Some Great Methodist Agencies 99 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Saint George's Church, Philadelphia, the Oldest 

Methodist Church Edifice in America . . . .Frontispiece 

Epworth Rectory 12 

Susannah Wesley 15 

John Wesley 19 

West Front of Christ Church (Oxford) 23 

Quadrangle of Lincoln College (Oxford) 24 

Charles Wesley * 27 

George Whitefield 31 

John Wesley Preaching on His Father's Tomb at 

Epworth 35 

Church in Bristol 39 

Foundry 43 

John Fletcher 47 

Philip Embury 49 

Robert Strawbridge 51 

Old Wesley Chapel, John Street, New York 54 

Stone Chapel, Pipe Creek, Maryland 56 

Francis Asbury 59 

Preaching in Prison (Cambridge, Maryland) 64 

Lovely Lane Chapel (Baltimore, Maryland) 67 

Francis Asbury on His Itinerant Tour in i 771 71 

Thomas Coke 75 

Jabez Bunting 79 

Bishop Simpson 83 



PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION 



The study of Methodist history has a practical value. 
It does not merely result in church pride, but brings to 
the student spiritual lessons in practical life form. The 
person who has not a reasonable knowledge of Meth- 
odist history has missed a means of grace. The faith, 
joyous experience, evangelistic zeal, and consecrated 
lives of our Methodist fathers are contagious. 

This booklet was written as a textbook for use in the 
senior grade of the Junior Epworth League, and for 
study classes of the Senior Chapter. The author so used 
it, before publication, with gratifying results. The illustra- 
tions, the size, the price, and the questions adapt it to 
such use. 

Best results demand at least three things: i. A suffi- 
cient supply of the books. One for each student means 
much. 2. Intelligent sidelights by the teacher. A good 
plan is to go over the lesson the week previous to recita- 
tion, having the students read a paragraph each. 3. Hon- 
est effort on the part of the student. 

This brief w^ork is also adapted to the general reader. 
Many Methodists, young and old, have never read any 
general history of their church. The busiest may read 
this one. It may be intelligently read through in four 
hours. 

The reception and use of the first edition was most 
gratifying, and this second edition is sent on its mission 
with a prayer that it may contribute its mite in train- 
ing our young people to be intelligent, loyal Christians 
and Methodists. 

W. G. KooNs. 

Rising Sun, Maryland, March i, 1922. 

7 



INTRODUCTION 



Nothing is more interesting or illuminating than 
history. Methodist history is especially full of interest 
and romance. American Methodism had its beginnings 
in our colonial days, and its formal organization was per- 
fected only eight years after the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. The Methodist Fathers were contemporary with 
the founders of the Republic. In all struggles for inde- 
pendence and for the integrity and expansion of the 
nation, the people called Methodists have had an inspiring 
part. No young person can thoroughly understand the 
deep currents of American life without an adequate knowl- 
edge of Methodist History, 

This little volume is intended simply as a beginning 
book for Juniors in our Epworth Leagues and Sunday 
Schools. It is w^ell adapted to its purpose. If properly 
studied and taught it will create in our young people an 
appetite for further historical reading. The Junior who 
masters this little work will be well fitted to enjoy Abel 
Stevens' Histories of Methodism and of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church — books which are far more fascinating 
and entertaining than many much praised modern ro- 
mances. 

David G. Downey. 



9 



CHAPTER I 



THE CRADLE OF METHODISM 

The place of our birth has much to do with our after 
history. Methodism was fortunate in being born in the 
sturdy EngHsh nation. To properly understand the early 
days of Methodism we must know something about the 
religious history of that people. Now look carefully at 
this cradle. 

England received the gospel about the middle of the 
second century, or about one thousand five hundred 
years before Methodism was born. After the Pope of 
Rome began to exercise his undue authority over the 
churches he sent Augustine to establish his rule over the 
English Church. This was so well done that for nearly 
one thousand years the Roman Catholic Church had no 
more loyal subjects than among the English. But a 
purer form of Christianity came in 1534, when Protestant- 
ism was introduced, during the reign of King Henry VHI. 

But Protestantism itself as it existed in England was a 
very poor type of Christianity. During the long period 
from Henry VHI to John Wesley — nearly two hundred 
years — the church had better doctrines and government, 
but there was still a lack of heart piety and pure, Christ- 
like living. Morality throughout England continued to 
decline. The reign of Queen Anne, who took the throne 
in 1702, one year before John Wesley was born, is famous 
for its wickedness. The queen herself was corrupt, the 
court polluted, and society baneful. Infidelity was ramp- 
ant. Drunkenness and gambling were common pastimes. 
The learning of the age, with Oxford University at its 
head, was strongly tainted with infidelity. 

II 



12 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



A very able treatise by R. Barclay on Religious So- 
ciety of the Times of the Commonzi'ealth says, ''The 
darkest period of the religious annals of England was that 
prior to the preaching of Whitefield and the Wesleys/' 




Epworth Rectory 



The Bishop of Litchfield in 1724 wrote: "The Lord's Day 
is now the devil's market day. Alore lewdness, more 
drunkenness, more quarrels and murders, more sin of 
every kind, is contrived and committed on this day of 



THE CRADLE OF METHODISM 



13 



the week than on all the others put together. Every 
kind of sin has found a writer to defend and teach it, and 
a bookseller and hawker to divulge and spread it." 

The church was inactive and powerless. Its ministers 
were ignorant, worldly, and also frequently the leaders 
at cards and in drinking-houses, blind leaders of the blind. 
This condition of things made a change necessary for the 
life of the church and of the nation. This necessity was 
met by the birth of Methodism. Such was the cradle into 
which Methodism was born. She proved herself a won- 
derful babe by arising and transforming her cradle. 

Questions 

1. Ir what nation was Methodism born? 

2. In what century was Christianity introduced into Eng- 
land? 

3. When was Protestantism introduced? 

4. What was the condition of the church and clergy in Eng- 
land at the time of Wesley's birth ? 

5. Why was Methodism a wonderful babe? 



CHAPTER II 



ANCESTORS OF THE WESLEYS 

A LIFE of John Wesley by the Rev. J. H. Overton, re- 
cent rector of Epworth, the Wesley home, says that the 
founder of Methodism, John Wesley, ''was of gentle birth 
on both sides. The Wesleys were an ancient family, 
settled in the west of England from the time of the Con- 
quest. The Annesleys, his mother's family, were an 
equally ancient and respected stock." 

John Wesley in middle life declared that what he knew 
of his ancestry went no farther back ''than a letter written 
by his grandfather's father to her he was to marry." The 
writer of this letter was Bartholomew Wesley, a preacher 
of the Church of England— as was also his son John, the 
founder's grandfather. Among the sons of this John was 
Samuel Wesley, the father of the founder of Methodism. 

Samuel Wesley was a man of great practical wisdom 
and piety. He manifested the strength of his character 
in his youth by walking from London to Oxford, and 
entering himself* as a student in that great school, when 
he had only forty-five shillings in his pocket. He worked 
so faithfully and managed so well that he graduated in 
five years, with bills all paid and one hundred and fifty- 
five shillings in hand. He spent his life as a minister in 
the Church of England. He was rector at Epworth when " 
John was born. 

Samuel Wesley married Susannah Annesley, daughter 
of Dr. Samuel Annesley. Of Dr. Annesley it is said that 
he determined at six years of age to be a preacher, and 
soon afterward that he would read twenty chapters of 

14 



ANCESTORS OF THE WESLEYS 



15 



the Bible every clay. From this ha])it he never departed. 
In Williams's biography of him it is related that he was 
able to endure the severest cold without hat, gloves, or 
fire ; for years he drank nothing but water, and until death 
could read without glasses the finest print. Dr. Annesley 




Susannah Wesley 



i6 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



was twice married, and was the father of one child by his 
first wife and of twenty-four by his second. Susannah, 
who became the wife of Samuel Wesley and mother of 
John, was the twenty-fifth child in this large family. 

Of Susannah Wesley Dr. Adam Clarke says, ''Such a 
woman, take her all in all, I have not heard of, I have 
not read of, nor with her equal have I been acquainted." 
Again, in his comments on the book of Proverbs, when 
he comes to that portion where Solomon describes the 
ideal woman, he mentions Mrs. Wesley as the best ex- 
ample he knew of the Scripture portrait. All accounts 
agree that she was a remarkable woman; beautiful in 
person, keen and strong in intellect, master of Greek, 
Latin, and French, devout in her religious life, spending 
an hour each evening and morning in private medita- 
tion and prayer, independent and firm in will. She was 
providentially fitted to become the mother of Methodism, 
and worthy of the title ''saint," which we sometimes be- 
stow upon her. 

Questions 

1. Give name of the founder of Methodism, and the name of 
his father. 

2. At what place was Wesley's father rector when John was 
born ? 

3. Give name of Wesley's mother, and tell what you can 
about her. 

4. Tell something about Wesley's father. 

5. Tell something about the father of Mrs. Wesley. 



CHAPTER III 



WESLEY'S CHILDHOOD HOME 

Samuel and Susannah Wesley were the parents of 
nineteen children, ten of whom lived to be full grown. 
Of these children two achieved world-wide fame. John 
Benjamin, the fifteenth child, was born June 17, 1703. 
He became the founder of Methodism. His middle name, 
''Benjamin," was never used by the family, and is not 
generally known, though from old records it is learned 
that he was so baptized, by his father, when a few hours 
old. Charles, the eighteenth child, was born December 
18, 1708, and was therefore more than five years younger 
than John. Charles became the great hymn writer of 
Methodism. 

The Epworth rectory was at once a home, a church, 
and a school. The first Junior Epworth League ex- 
isted there. "Saint Susannah" was the first superin- 
tendent, and her nineteen children the charter members. 
Mrs. Wesley was the first teacher of her children. She 
kept them in her own rectory school until they were 
about ten years of age. Her sessions were from nine to 
twelve in the morning and from two to five in the after- 
noon, and were opened and closed with singing. The 
strictest rule and method were observed. A child was 
not taught its letters until it was five years old, and then 
the task was to be accomplished in one day, if possible. 
There were but two failures, and of them Mrs. Wesley 
said afterward, 'T thought them very dull." 

At the age of one year each child was taught to fear 
punishment and to cry softly. A child was never given 

17 



i8 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISAI 



anything for which it cried. Children were never given 
anything to eat between meals. All were put to bed at 
eight o'clock. If a child did wrong, and confessed, no 
punishment was given. The girls were not taught to 
sew until they first learned to read well. ''This rule," 
says i\Irs. Wesley, "is to be observed, for the putting 
children to learn sewing before they can read perfectly 
is the very reason why so few^ women can read in a 
manner fit to be heard." 

The religious training of the children was most care- 
fully provided for. Besides the family altar the mother 
took each child alone for one hour every week for reli- 
gious conversation and prayer. John's hour came each 
Thursday evening. WTien a graduate student in Oxford 
University he wrote to his mother, begging her to give 
him an hour of her thought and prayer every Thursday 
evening as she used to do when he was a boy at home. 

John \\^esley had a naturally devout and religious 
nature; of this Dr. J. M. Buckley says, in his splendid 
History of Methodism : "In this particular there is a 
similarity between the childhood of John Wesley and that 
of \\'illiam E. Gladstone, who was also so devout in spirit 
that his father admitted him to the communion table 
when only eight years old." 

John Wesley was preeminently the son of his mother. 
He inherited many of her traits, and between the two the 
closest affection and fellowship existed throughout life. 
It has been said by some that ]\Iethodism was born in the 
Holy Club at Oxford, others have located its birth in the 
little meeting where John Wesley felt his heart "strangely 
warmed." But it may be as truly said that it was born 
in the devout, systematic, prayerful training of her chil- 
dren by the mother in Epworth Rectory. 

This model family was not without its trials ; one 



l^iom the painting by J. W. L. Forster. 

John Wesley 



20 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 

death after another occurred among the children. The 
father's salary, though set at £200, or $1,000, was really 
only $650. This was insufficient, and caused a constant 
battle with poverty. The rectory was twice set on fire 
by roughs, who were offended by the plain preaching of 
the rector. The first time the fire was discovered and 
put out, but in the second fire, February, 1709 — when John 
was six years old — the rectory was destroyed with all its 
records. In the hurry of escape before the flames John 
was overlooked. When the rest of the family was safely 
out it was found that he was asleep upstairs. Then, almost 
frantic, the father ran to the stairs, only to find that they 
were consumed. 

He fell on his knees in the hall and commended the 
soul of the child to God. In the meantime John had 
been awakened by the glaring light, and seeing that 
his escape by the door was impossible, he climbed upon 
a chest by the window and so became visible to the 
crowd below. No ladder being accessible, and the house 
low, one man standing upon the shoulders of another 
raised the window and rescued the child. 

It was none too soon, for the roof that moment fell 
in. The grateful father called to the neighbors and said : 
*Tet us kneel down; let us give thanks to God. He has 
given me all of my eight children; let the house go, I am 
rich enough." This incident made John a marked child. 
His mother so looked upon him, and devoted special pains 
to him. She wrote in her diary: 'T do intend to be more 
particularly careful of the soul of this child. . . . Lord, 
give me grace, and bless my efforts with good success/* 

Questions 

1. How many children had Samuel and Susannah Wesley? 

2. What was John's full name ? 



WESLEY'S CHILDHOOD HOME 21 



3. Where did the first Junior League exist? 

4. Give some of the rules followed by Mrs. Wesley in training 
her children. 

5. How often was the rectory on fire ; and how was John 
rescued from the last fire ? 



CHAPTER IV 



OXFORD COLLEGE AND THE HOLY CLUB 

John Wesley entered the famous Oxford University 
in 1720, being about seventeen years of age. His prep- 
aration for Oxford consisted of five years spent at the 
Charterhouse School, in London. Thus he left the pa- 
rental home when eleven years of age. At the Charter- 
house the students were poorly fed, and the larger boys 
imposed upon the smaller. In John's case they robbed 
him of his share of meat; so that many times he was 
compelled to live entirely on bread. Though so poorly 
fed, and extremely studious, he preserved his health by 
obeying a wise command of his father, to run around 
the large garden of the Charterhouse three times a day. 
In Oxford John Wesley obtained a high reputation for 
scholarship. 

In August, 1727, he went to Epworth and was ''curate/' 
or helper to his father, until November, 1729. Here he 
perhaps would have remained many years had it not been 
for an urgent appeal from Oxford College requiring his 
presence as moderator, to preserve "order and good 
government." Heeding this call, Mr. Wesley came again 
to Oxford in November, 1729, and remained six years. 

The ''Holy Club" began in Oxford in 1729, just be- 
fore John Wesley returned from Epworth. Charles 
Wesley was its prime mover. He had entered Oxford in 
1726, when eighteen years of age. In his earlier life he 
had been somewhat careless in religious matters, but now 
began to be serious and to be regular in his church duties. 
He soon induced two other students to join him in this 

22 ^ 



OXFORD COLLEGE AND THE HOLY CLUB 23 




West Front of Christ Church (Oxford) 



manner of life, Robert Kirkham and William Morgan. 
When John arrived from Epworth he became so eager in 
this manner of life that he was soon recognized as the 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



leader. They rose at five in the morning, fasted twice a 
week. They partook of the holy communion every Sun- 
day. They repeated a prayer at nine, twelve, and three 
every day; and made a brief silent prayer every waking 
hour of the day. 

This strictness and devotion in religious life soon won 
for them the title the ''Holy Club." It was given them 




Quadrangle of Lincoln College (Oxford) 



in derision by the less devoted students. Because of their 
much reading of the Bible, they were sometimes called 
"Bible Bigots." But the name which has clung to them 
and their adherents is 'The Methodists." Thus the name 
by which our denomination has always been known was 
first given to these devoted young students in derision. 

Those already named were afterward joined by George 
Whitefield, James Hervey, and twelve others not named. 
Thus in this Holy Club were being prepared the three 



OXFORD COLLEGE AND THE HOLY CLUB 25 



chief actors in the origination of Methodism: here were 
John Wesley, its founder and powerful preacher; Charles 
Wesley, its seraphic hymn wTiter ; and George White- 
field, its flaming evangelist. It was a marvelous thing 
for these young men to turn away from the frivol- 
ity of college life and meet together in a private room 
to sing, pray, study the Word of God, and try to build 
each other up in holiness. 

John Wesley's life at this time is a fair sample of all 
the club. Dr. Buckley says of him at this period : "He 
observed the Wednesday and Friday fasts, tasting no food 
till three in the afternoon. He walked twenty-five miles 
a day, in hot weather as well as in cold, and frequently, 
with his brother, would read as they walked for a distance 
of ten or twelve miles. He and his colleagues carried 
asceticism and devotion to study so far as nearly to ruin 
their health. He set apart an hour or two every day for 
prayer . . . visited prisons, gave away all the money 
he could obtain, cut off not only the superfluities, but 
many things deemed by others necessities, until by failing 
health, and especially by severe and frequent hemorrhages, 
he was brought to the gates of death." 

These extremes were soon corrected, but the motive 
back of them was commendable. The Holy Club in Ox- 
ford was the ripe fruit of the devoted religious training of 
Epworth Rectory, and also the fertile seed of Methodism 
throughout the world. 

Questions 

1. At what school did John Wesley prepare for college, and 
how did the boys treat him there? 

2. To what famous college did John Wesley go when seven- 
teen ? 

3. W^hen, where, and by whom was the Holy Club formed? 

4. Name its three most prominent members. 

5. How did we get the name ''Methodist" ? 



CHAPTER V 



THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA 

At this time in England a man could be imprisoned 
for debt and hung for stealing. ^lany were thrown into 
prison for small debts which they were trying honestly to 
pay. On an average four thousand were thus imprisoned 
each year. This state of things aroused the sympathy 
of James Oglethorpe, a member of the English Parlia- 
ment, who planned to provide a place in America where 
the poor would be respected, and not be imprisoned for 
their poverty. June g, 1732, George IL King of Eng- 
land, granted Oglethorpe what is now the State of 
Georgia for his colony, and in November of that year 
he brought over one hundred and twenty settlers. 

In 1734 Oglethorpe returned to England, and in Feb- 
ruary, 1736, came again to the colony with three hundred 
more emigrants, among whom were John and Charles 
Wesley. John came as a missionary to the Indians, and 
Charles as secretary to General Oglethorpe. The voy- 
age over had lasted nearly three months, and was beset 
by a terrific storm, during which it was feared the ship 
would be lost. John and Charles were greatly fright- 
ened, as were most of the others; but a company of 
Christians, called Moravians, were singing hymns of 
praise in the midst of the storm. After the storm John 
asked them how they kept so tranquil. They told him 
they knew they w^ere saved and were not afraid to die. 
Mr. Wesley had no such experience, and doubted as to 
his having been converted. 

26 



THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA 27 

The Wesleys remained in America al)Oiit two years. 
John was much disappointed in not being able to preach to 
the Indians because of their language, and his ministry 




Charles Wesley 



among the colonists was not very satisfactory. He was 
seeking a higher religious experience, but in a wrong way 
— by self-denial and self-persecution. He and his brother 



28 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



Charles during their stay in America frequently slept on 
the ground, refused all food but bread and water ; John 
even went barefoot, in a struggle for a satisfactory expe- 
rience of religion. 

This severe type of religion, lacking the sweetness of 
the gospel, drove the colonists away from Mr. Wesley 
and largely defeated his mission. If Mr. Wesley had 
found in Georgia the right path, as he afterward found 
it in England, Methodism would, in all probability, have 
been an American instead of an English product. 

Mr. Wesley, still in doubt about his experience, went 
to Spangenberg, a Moravian preacher in Georgia, to in- 
quire the best way to make his ministry a success. 
*'My brother," said the Moravian, 'T must first ask 
you one or two questions. Have you the witness within 
yourself? Does the Spirit of God bear witness with 
your spirit that you are a child of God?" Wesley made 
no answer and Spangenberg then asked, "Do you know 
Jesus Christ?" 'T know he is the Saviour of the world," 
replied Wesley. ''True," was the reply, ''but do you know 
he saves you?" "I hope he has died to save me," re- 
plied Wesley. "Do you know for yourself?" was the 
final question. "I do," responded Wesley; but he after- 
ward writes, "I fear they were mere words." 

Mr. Wesley set sail for England January 2.2, 1738. 
On the voyage home he writes : "I went to America to 
convert the Indians, but O, who shall convert me ? . . . 
What have I learned myself in the meantime? Why 
(what I least of all suspected) that I, who went to 
America to convert others, was never myself converted 
to God." Years afterward Mr. Wesley inserted in his 
journal, after the words above quoted, "I am not sure of 
this." Thus did a great soul struggle toward the clear 
light of Christian experience. 



THE WESLEYS IN AMERICA 



29 



Questions 

1. To what part of America did John and Charles Wesley 
come, and for what purpose ? 

2. What occurred on the way over? 

3. In what year did John Wesley return to England? 

4. How long had he been in America ? 

5. What did he write about his religious experience on the 
way home ? 



CHAPTER VI 



THE BEGINNING OF METHODIST EXPERIENCE 

Methodism has always emphasized the clear, definite 
experience of religion. We have traced John Wesley's 
struggles toward this great boon. We are now to see 
how he obtained it. 

He landed in England February 1738, and has- 
tened to London. On the 7th he there met Peter Bohler, 
a pious Moravian. This meeting was always regarded 
by Wesley as the turning point in his religious career. 
Peter Bohler was nine years younger than W^esley. He 
was a native of Germany, and was at this time on his way 
to America. Almost daily these two met and conversed 
on religion for several weeks. ''On the 22d of April/' 
says Dr. Buckley, "the subject of instantaneous conver- 
sion was considered, and by the arguments of Bohler, 
the teachings of the Scriptures, and the testimony of 
certain witnesses the eyes of John A\'esley were opened to 
see that such conversion is possible.'' 

The Moravians thus had so much to do with the 
birth of iMethodism that we take a glance at their his- 
tory. They are the descendants of John Huss, who lived 
in Germany about one hundred years before Luther, who 
dared to teach some of the truths afterward taught by the 
Protestant reformers. He emphasized personal religion 
and spoke against the corrupt lives of the clergy and the 
oppressions of the Pope of Rome. The Pope had him con- 
demned by the Council of Constance, and he w^as burned 
at the stake in 141 5. But the people had the truth, and 
clung to it in spite of the Pope. They were finally driven 
to the Moravian Mountains, in northern Bohemia. From 

30 



BEGINNING OF METHODIST EXPERIENCE 31 

these mountains they took their name, and dwelt here in 
great simplicity and purity for more than three centuries. 
In 1722 a colony of them, led by Christian David, mi- 




GeORC-L V V lilTEFlELD 



32 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



grated to Saxony and settled on lands owned by Count 
Zinzendorf, who became a leader among them. It was 
Zinzendorf who brought the colony of these devoted peo- 
ple to America, and settled at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. 
Peter Bohler was a member of the Saxon colony at 
Herrnhut. A kind Providence had prepared him to lead 
John Wesley into the light. Thus a spark from the fire 
which consumed Huss at Constance found its way to 
London, and lit the flame which is spreading 'round the 
world in Methodism. 

After these conversations with Wesley, Bohler wTote 
to a friend this close analysis of him : "A good-natured 
man, knew he did not properly believe on the Saviour, 
and was willing to be taught." Wesley wrote the result 
of these conversations in these words : 'T was now 
thoroughly convinced ; and by the grace of God I re- 
solved to seek it unto the end." Later he wrote : 'T 
continued thus to seek it till Wednesday, May 24 [1738]. 
I think it w^as about five this morning that I opened my 
Testament on these words : 'There are given unto us 
exceeding great and precious promises; even that ye 
should be partakers of the divine nature.' Just as I 
went out I opened it again on these words : 'Thou art 
not far from the kingdom of God.' ... In the evening 
I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, 
where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle 
to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he 
was describing the change which God works in the heart 
through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. 
I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and 
an assurance was given nae that he had taken away my 
sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and 
death." He had been formally religious from his youth, 
now he had the experience. 



BEGINNING OF METHODIST EXPERIENCE 33 



Charles Wesley had obtained a similar experience three 
days before John. He had been attending the meetings 
of the Moravian societies, such as that in Aldersgate 
Street, where John obtained the blessing. The saintly 
Bohler led Charles also to the light. Of the Moravian 
meetings he wrote : 'T thought myself in a choir of 
angels." After a long illness, at the home of a pious 
mechanic, he finally attained the peace of God. This 
experience sings in many Methodist hymns. 

George Whitefield was converted before either of the 
Wesleys. He entered the new life in Christ after a 
great struggle, of which he says : ''God only knows 
how many nights I have lain upon my bed groaning under 
what r felt. Whole days and weeks have I spent lying 
prostrate on the ground in silent or vocal prayer." His 
conversion was as definite as the conviction above de- 
scribed. He says of it: ''O, with what joy, joy unspeak- 
able, even joy that was full of glory, was my soul filled 
when the weight of sin went off, and an abiding sense of 
the pardoning love of God and a full assurance of faith 
broke in upon my disconsolate soul." Thus after great 
struggle did these heroic men learn the way of simple 
faith, and obtained an experience so blessed that they 
counted it their duty and joy to spend the rest of their 
lives in pointing out the way to others. 

Questions 

1. Give date of Wesley's conversion. 

2. Give name of the man who did so much to lead him into 
the light. 

3. What sect of Christians had a great deal to do with the 
first Methodist experience? 

4. What did Mr. Wesley say about the feeling of his heart 
at the time of his conversion ? 

5. What other prominent Methodists were converted just 
before this? 



CHAPTER VII 



FIRST METHODIST PREACHING 

John Wesley^ about one month after his conversion, 
made a journey to Herrnhut, the jNIoravian settlement 
spoken of in the last chapter. Here he spent considerable 
time in religious conversation with the pious Moravians. 
He sat at the feet of Christian David, a carpenter by 
trade, without the education of the schools, but rich in 
common sense and experimental piety. 

This trip established Wesley in his new experience 
and helped prepare him to preach the new light to others. 
He learned also at Herrnhut three lessons of great prac- 
tical value to him afterward: i. That the spiritual and ex- 
perimental part of Christianity is more important than 
church forms. 2. The power of saintly men in preaching 
though their education is limited. 3. The value of little 
societies formed within the church for the advancement 
of spiritual life. 

With happy heart and a mind filled with practical 
lessons Wesley returned to London. He began at once 
to preach among the little societies gathered by the 
Moravians, but consisting largely of people belonging to 
the English Church. Such was the society in Aldersgate 
Street, where Wesley was converted. He arrived in Eng- 
land on Saturday night, and in his Journal says of the 
next day : 'T began again to declare in my own country 
the glad tidings of salvation, preaching three times, and 
afterward expounding the Holy Scripture to a large 
company in the IMinories.'' His brother Charles had 
been preaching the new experience. Several clergymen 

34 



36 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



had accepted the new views, and many converts had 
been made. 

From this time on John Wesley preached incessantly. 
The people crowded to hear him. He preached every 
morning at five o'clock, and every evening, also, in one 
or more of the societies. On Saturday he preached in 
the afternoon. On Sunday, after the early morning 
preaching, he preached again at eleven, at two, and at 
five, traveling many miles between services. 

About the time that Wesley began preaching George 
Whitefield, who had been preaching in America, and 
had attained great success, returned to England. He 
and W esley were soon counseling together. During his 
American tour Whitefield had preached much in the 
open air to multitudes that no church would hold. He 
now advised this plan in England, inasmuch as the 
churches were being closed against the Methodists. 

Mr. Wesley did not readily adapt himself to this method. 
Of his views at this time he says, 'T should have thought 
the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been 
done in a church." He gives this defense for open-air 
preaching: "Be pleased to observe: (i) That I was for- 
bidden as by a general consent to preach in any church. 
. . . (2) That I had no design to preach in the open air 
until after this oppression." Though threatened by the 
archbishop for open-air preaching he and Charles and 
Whitefield went on preaching to ten, twenty, and even 
thirty thousand people at once. 

In 1742 John Wesley came to Epworth, once his 
father's parish, and his own birthplace. On Sunday 
morning the worldly rector refused him the pulpit, but 
as the people were leaving the church an attendant of 
Wesley's announced that he would preach in the grave- 
yard in the afternoon. An immense crowd assembled, 



FIRST METHODIST PREACHING 37 

and Wesley mounted his father's tombstone and preached 
with great power. Here for one week he daily took his 
stand and ''cried aloud to the earnestly attentive congre- 
gations." Many dropped as dead under the preaching, 
and at times the congregations lifted their voices and wept 
aloud. 

Questions 

1. What place did John Wesley visit soon after his con- 
version ? 

2. What was the result of his visit? 

3. At what early hour in the morning did Wesley preach? 

4. From what great preacher did Mr. Wesley get the practice 
of field preaching? 

5. Where did Mr. Wesley preach when denied the church 
at Epworth? 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE FIRST SOCIETY AND THE FIRST CHURCH 

I. First Society 

Near the close of 1739 eight or ten persons, earnestly 
desiring to lead a religious life, came to John Wesley in 
London and requested that he would meet them regularly 
for counsel and prayer. He agreed to do so, naming 
Thursday evening as the time for their meeting. Mr. 
Wesley himself thus writes : ''The first evening about 
twelve persons came ; the next week thirty or forty. 
When they were increased to about a hundred I took down 
their names and places of abode, intending as often as was 
convenient to call upon them at their homes. Thus, 
without any previous plan, began the Methodist society 
in England — a company of people associating together 
to help each other to work out their own salvation." This 
was the first Methodist society. It grew so rapidly that 
a year later it had more than a thousand members. 

Very soon after the society was established in London 
a similar work followed at Bristol. George Whitefield, 
going like a flame of fire throughout England, preaching 
the gospel as taught by the Methodists, came to Bristol. 
Here he preached in the open air on a large bowling 
green to the thousands who flocked to hear him. The 
work grew mightily, so Whitefield sent for Wesley to 
come to his aid. Soon Whitefield left Wesley to carry on 
the work alone. May 2, 1739, Wesley preached here his 
first sermon in the open air to an audience of three 
thousand people. His text was, 'The Spirit of the 

38 



FIRST SOCIETY AND THE FIRST CHURCH 39 



Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach 
the gospel to the poor." The converts were many, and 
it was natural that they should be formed into a society. 
This was accomplished near the close of 1739. Soon 
after this societies were formed at Kingswood, Bath, and 
Moorfields on the edge of London, and before long they 
spread all over England. 



This work at Bristol led to the building of the first 
Methodist church in the world. In fact, the foundation 
of this first Methodist church was laid before there was 
any Methodist Society formed anywhere. The labors of 
Whitefield at Bristol had gathered in such a multitude of 
folks that they demanded a house of worship. May 12, 



1739, the cornerstone for such a structure was laid "with 
the voice of thanksgiving and praise." 

However, building went on so slowly at Bristol that 
the Foundry at Moorfields, on the edge of London, was 



2. First Church 




Church in Bristol 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



opened for church services first. On leaving Bristol, 
as related above, Whitefield went to London, where his 
open-air preaching became the sensation of the great city. 
Soon Wesley joined him here, and at Moorfields they 
preached to audiences numbering sixty thousand or more. 
In fact, Whitefield says in his diary that at Hyde Park 
corner he preached to an audience of eighty thousand. 

In the fall of 1739, when the cold weather made open- 
air preaching impossible, Mr. Wesley purchased at Moor- 
fields an old, abandoned cannon foundry and had it 
fitted up for church purposes. On the first floor were a 
room for preaching seating fifteen hundred people, a large 
room for school purposes, and a book room, where reli- 
gious books were for sale. On the second floor were 
apartments fitted up for Mr. Wesley's home. Here his 
aged mother, Susannah, made her home with him until her 
death in 1742. Church, school, parsonage, book store, 
medical dispensary, loan office, the Foundry became the 
headquarters of Methodism for half a century. 

Questions 

1. When and where was the first Methodist church built? 

2. Give account of the first Methodist society. 

3. Describe the Foundry. 

4. Where did Susannah Wesley spend her last days? 

5. Speak of Whitefield preaching in the open air. 



CHAPTER IX 



OTHER IMPORTANT BEGINNINGS 

About this time arose other Methodist usages which 
have been of great service to the church. 

1. Class Meeting. The class meeting grew out of the 
necessity brought about by the first Methodist church. A 
heavy debt rested on the meetinghouse at Bristol. To 
encourage systematic giving Mr. Wesley divided the mem- 
bership into classes of twelve each, of whom one, as 
leader, was to see each member and secure a penny, 
weekly, toward the debt. This worked very well. After 
a little time the leaders reported that some of the mem- 
bers did not live as they ought. Mr. Wesley then in- 
structed the leaders to make particular inquiry each 
week into the behavior of each member. Thus arose the 
class meeting, which was destined to be so useful in 
Methodism. 

2. Watch Night. This service originated at Kings- 
wood. There the rough miners had been in the habit of 
spending the last night of the year in drunkenness and 
carousing; now those who were converted met and spent 
the time in prayer and testimony. The custom was after- 
ward observed in many places with excellent results, and 
the service is still popular. In early Methodism it was 
held once a month, and at Kingswood services were held 
far into the night. Wesley corrected the abuse, but 
preserved the custom and instituted it at other places. 

3. Local Preachers. The use of local preachers began 
in this early period. Mr. Wesley was at first firmly op- 
posed to anyone other than regular ministers preaching. 

41 



42 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



It happened thus : Mr. W€sley asked Thomas Maxfield, 
a layman, to keep watch over the flock at the fomidry 
during his absence from London. Maxfield not only met 
the classes, but there was so much interest that almost 
unintentionally he began to preach, and did it most ac- 
ceptably. 

Some one wrote Mr. Wesley and he returned to stop 
the irregularity. But his mother, Susannah, was yet 
alive, making her home at the foundry. One of the last 
important acts of her life was to give John advice about 
lay preaching. When he manifested to her his disapproval 
of Maxfield's course she said, "Take care what you do 
respecting that young man ; he is as surely called of 
God to preach as you are." She told John to hear him, 
and as a result he said, "It is the Lord; let him do what 
seemeth to him good." Thus Thomas Maxfield became the 
first of that long list of local preachers, not yet complete, 
who have done so much to save souls, preach the gospel, 
and build up the church. 

4. The First Doctrinal Stand. It was in the year 
1 741 that Methodism was fully and openly committed 
to the doctrine and preaching of free grace. That year 
George Whitefield, who had taken up the doctrine of un- 
conditional election while in America, began to write and 
to preach it. This was that frightful doctrine that some 
are foreordained of God to. be saved and others to be 
lost. It is known as Calvinism. Mr. Wesley was thus 
forced to take a stand, which he did by declaring salvation 
free to all who will believe. From this time Whitefield went 
on preaching his doctrine while Wesley adhered strictly 
to his own. 

5. First Conference. Wesley and his helpers went 
rapidly on in their work of saving souls. It was con- 
sidered wise to call the workers together in Conference. 



OTHER IMPORTANT BEGINNINGS 43 



This was done by Mr. Wesley, who wrote them that he 
desired "their advice as to the best method of carrying 




on the work of God." This Conference was held at the 
foundry, in London, June 25-29, 1744. There were pres- 
ent John and Charles Wesley, four clergymen of the 



44 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



Church of England, who were interested in Methodism, 
and four local preachers. Charles Wesley preached at 
the opening service. The five days were spent in prayer, 
singing, and the discussion of such practical doctrines as 
repentance, faith, regeneration, and sanctification. They 
sought the best methods of helping each other to live 
holy lives and to do the most toward leading souls to 
Christ. This first Conference is the head of a long list 
still growing. The next Conference was held at Bristol, 
1745, and ever since they have been held annually. 

Questions 

1. Tell how the Class Meeting arose. 

2. Tell about Watch Night. 

3. On what doctrine did Wesley and Whitefield differ? 

4. Name the first local preacher and tell how he began to 
preach. 

5. Tell about the first Methodist Conference. 



/ 



CHAPTER X 



SOME GIANTS OF THOSE DAYS 

John Wesley was the great apostle of Methodism, but 
with him there labored a band of noble men. 

1. George White field. Attention has already been 
given to the conversion and wonderful preaching of 
this extraordinary man. He was the first of the Holy 
Club to be converted, experiencing this grace in 1735. 
He preached throughout England, Scotland, Ireland, 
Wales, and in America. He lived to be fifty-six, dying 
in 1770. He crossed the Atlantic thirteen times, and 
preached eighteen thousand sermons. His eloquence was 
very unusual. 

2. Charles Wesley. This good man was the constant 
adviser and helper of his brother John. He was the 
originator of the Holy Club, and preceded his brother 
in preaching Methodist doctrine. He was the sweet 
singer of Methodism, a religious poet of the first order. 
His hymns recount every stage of religious experience, 
from conviction to the highest reaches of sanctification. 
Some of them came to him in the quiet of his study, 
others in the midst of his sermons, when he was in the 
habit of lining them to the congregation; two lines 
coming to him while the congregation sang the two previ- 
ously announced. Frequently while riding horseback 
hymns came quickly to mind, and he jotted them down as 
soon as pen and paper were at hand. One hundred and 
twenty of his hymns are in the Methodist Hymnal. The 
early Methodists committed their hymns to memory, and 

45 



46 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



their fervent singing was, next to preaching, their most 
effective agency. Charles Wesley died in 1788, aged 
eighty years. 

3. John Fletcher. He is known as the ''saint of ]\Ieth- 
odism.'' Born in Switzerland, in 1729, he early became a 
great scholar and a master of French, German, Latin, 
Greek, and Hebrew. After serving in the army he went 
to England as a teacher. In 1755 he united with the 
Methodists. In 1760 he became rector at ]\Iadeley. In his 
zeal he became an ascetic. Southey says of him : ''He 
lived on vegetables, and for some time on milk and water 
and bread ; he sat up two whole nights in every week 
for the purpose of praying and reading and meditating 
on religious things ; and on other nights never allowed 
himself to sleep as long as he could keep his attention to 
the book before him." He afterward forsook and con- 
demned this course. He was the defender of Methodist 
doctrine against all comers. He died in 1785. 

4. John AA^esley's death. It occurred in London, March 
2, 1 79 1, at eighty-eight years of age. \Mien nearing the 
end he was heard repeating, scores of times, 'TU praise ! 
I'll praise !" Twice he exclaimed, "The best of all is 
God is with us !" Thus passed away this great man, of 
whom ]\Iacaulay says, "He was a man whose eloquence 
and logical sentences liiight have rendered him eminent 
in literature, whose genius for government was not 
inferior to that of Richelieu, and who devoted all his 
powers to what he sincerely believed to be the highest 
good of his species." He traveled, in the fifty years of 
his ministry, over two hundred and fifty thousand miles, 
chiefly on horseback, and preached over forty-two thou- 
sand sermons. 

5. Extent of ^Methodism in 1791. We have chiefly 
traced its history in England. It had entered Ireland in 



SOME GIANTS OF THOSE DAYS 



47 



1747, when Thomas Williams, a local preacher from Eng- 
land, preached and established a society in Dublin. 

Wales was hard soil, but under the labors of Griffith 




John Fletcher 



Jones and Howel Harris Methodism was well planted, 
and has made healthy growth. 

Scotland was visited by Wesley and Whitefield, and 
the work begun; but Scotland has never been good Meth- 
odist soil. 

By the time of Wesley's death Methodism had been 



48 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



established for twenty-five years in America and made 
wonderful progress, which we are to trace in the suc- 
ceeding chapters. 

Questions 

1. Tell what you can about George Whitefield. 

2. Tell what you can about Charles Wesley and his hymns. 

3. Tell what you know about John Fletcher. 

4. When did John Wesley die? Give his dying testimony. 

5. In what countries was Methodism found at Wesley's death? 



CHAPTER XI 



METHODISM PLANTED IN AMERICA 

Methodism has done its greatest work in America. 

The Wesleys and Whitefield preached in America, but 
no churches were founded by them. It was not until 1766 
that the work really began on this continent ; twenty-seven 
years after its rise in England, and twenty-five before 
John Wesley's death. 

In 1760 a party of emigrants sailed from Limerick, 
Ireland, for New York. The chief figure was a thought- 
ful, resolute young man named Philip Embury. His 




Philip Embury 
49 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



party consisted of his wife, Mary; two of his brothers 
and their wives; Peter Switzer, a brother to his wife; 
Paul Heck and his wife, Barbara, and a few others less 
prominent. Philip Embury was a carpenter by trade; 
had been converted in 1752. The story of his conversion 
is preserved in his own handwriting; it reads: "On 
Christmas Day, being Monday ye 25th of December in 
the year 1752, the Lord shone into my soul by a glimpse 
of his redeeming love ; being an earnest of my redemp- 
tion in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory forever and ever. 
Amen. Phil: Embury.'" 

Some of the party besides Embury were Christians, 
but certainly not all. After their arrival in New York 
those who were Christians seem to have lived a very 
easygoing Christian life. They found no church, and 
for six years there is no record of their religious doings. 
Many members of the party became open w^orldlings. 

Another party came over from Ireland in 1765, some 
of whom were related to members of the first group. 
There was Paul Ru^ cle, a brother to Barbara ^IJje.ck. It 
was in his house that Barbara was first moved to take 
the step which may be said to have begun [Methodism in 
America. She came to make a social visit, but finding 
a party engaged in playing cards, her righteous soul was 
so vexed that she seized the cards and threw them into 
the fire, and then, having warned the players, left. With 
a mighty purpose she went direct to the home of Philip 
Embury and pleaded with him to begin to preach the word 
at once. He argued that he had no house in which, to 
preach. She urged him to preach in his own house, and, 
with the decision characteristic of her sex, she went out 
and collected four others. These five made the first 
Methodist congregation in America. After singing and 
prayer, Embury preached and enrolled the members in a 



METHODISM PLANTED IN AMERICA 



51 




Robert Strawbridge 



class. He then met them every week. In a few months 
fourteen had been converted and were enrolled in two 
classes, one for men and one for women. Soon the at- 
tendance was too large for Embury's house, and a larger 
room, which had been used as a ''Rigging Loft," was 
rented, and the work went on with increasing success. 

About the .same ..time that Embury began to preach 
in Xew York another local preacher from Ireland, Robert 
Strawbridge, began to preach at Sam's Creek, in Fred- 
erick County, Maryland. Strawbridge had been an 
itinerant preacher in Ireland, and when he landed in 



52 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



America took up the work among his neighbors. Fred- 
erick County was then a backwoods country; only five 
years before the Indians had passed Forts Cumberland 
and Frederick, plundering and murdering, and went 
unchecked nearly to Baltimore. To this city the resi- 
dents around had fled for safety. 

Strawbridge gathered the people in his own house and 
preached to them the gospel, formed a Methodist society, 
and not long after built the "Log Meetinghouse" on Sam's 
Creek, about one mile from his home. It was a rude 
structure twenty-two feet square, and, though long oc- 
cupied for worship, was never finished; had neither floor, 
windows, nor doors. Strawbridge became an itinerant/^ ''A i/^ 
preaching in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Vir- 
ginia. The fir st n ative preacher of this continent was one . 
of his converts, Richard. .Qwen, of Maryland. 

Thus, without knowledge of each other, Embury and 
Strawbridge planted Methodism in New York and Mary- 
land about the same time. 

Questions 

1. In what year was Methodism planted in America ?(*] CC 

2. Name the man and woman who started Methodism in New' 
York. 

3. Where was Methodism started about the same time that it 
began in New York ? 

4. Who started it there, and from what land had he come? 

5. Who was the first native preacher in America? 



CHAPTER XII 



METHODISM GROWS RAPIDLY 

In February, 1767, the Methodist society at New York, 
meeting in the Rigging Loft, were surprised at the ap- 
pearance among them of a stranger, a soldier, in full 
military garb, with a sword by his side. At first they 
were alarmed, thinking he had come to disturb them. 
He entered heartily into the service, and at its close came 
up and introduced himself as ^'Captain Webb, of the 
king's service, and also a soldier of the cross, and a 
spiritual son of John Wesley." He further told them that 
Wesley had given him authority to preach. He was a 
soldier of the British army, and at that time in charge of 
the barracks at Albany, N. Y. 

This stranger proved to be of great service to the 
Methodists of New York and elsewhere. It was largely 
through his influence that the infant society in New 
York secured the building of their first church, which 
was also the first in America. It was named ''Wesley 
Chapel," and situated on John Street. It was built of 
stone, and was 42x60 feet. A ladder led to the gallery, 
and the seats were without backs. It was dedicated 
October 30, 1768, by Embury, who ascended the pulpit 
he himself had made, and preached from Hosea 10. 12: 
"Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; 
break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the 
Lord." In 1770 a parsonage was built, adjoining the 
church. The city of New York then had only twenty 
thousand inhabitants. 

About this time Captain Webb was retired from the 

53 



54 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



army on full pay and began his itinerant ministry. He 
traveled through New Jersey, preaching with great power, 




Old Wesley Chapel, John Street, New York 

and founding societies at Burlington, Pemberton, Trenton, 
and many other places. He went to Philadelphia, 
preached in a sail loft, and organized a class of seven 



METHODISM GROWS RAPIDLY 55 



members. Thus did Methodism originate in Philadelphia. 
He pushed on into Delaware, preaching at Wilmington, 
New Castle, and in the woods along the Brandywine. 

Captain Webb and the society in New York now urged 
Mr. Wesley to send over some regular preachers to take 
charge of the work. He sent Richard Boardman and 
Joseph Pilmoor. They arrived and began their work at 
once, Pilmoor preaching in Philadelphia and Boardman in 
New York. After five months they exchanged places, 
and this was afterward the constant practice. This was 
the origin of Methodist itineracy in America. 

The work grew so rapidly that, in response to another 
appeal, Mr. W^esley sent over two more preachers in 
1771. Of one of them, Richard Wright, little is known 
except that he labored principally in Maryland and 
Virginia, but the other was to become the most promi- 
nent man in American Methodism. He was the son of 
an English farmer, and at seven was a diligent Bible 
student; went to Methodist preaching, was astonished 
to hear prayers w^ithout a book and preaching with- 
out paper, fell under conviction, and while praying in 
his father's barn was happily converted. Before he was 
seventeen he was leading services, and for tw^o months 
before the Conference of 1771 had been thinking "that 
America was destined to be his field of labor." Wesley, 
with keen judgment of men, saw in this young man the 
elements of leadership and laid his hands upon him. 
Such w^as Francis Asbury. He and his companions 
landed in Philadelphia in October, 1771. Asbury now 
took practical control of the w^ork, and was in labors 
abundant, preaching three and four times a day and 
itinerating continually. 

In 1773 Mr. Wesley sent over two more helpers, 
Thomas Rankin and George Shadford. W^esley appointed 



56 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



Rankin superintendent of the work in America. To 
Shadford he wrote : 'T let you loose, George, on the great 
continent of America. Publish your message in the open 
face of the sun, and do all the good you can." 

Rankin called together the first Methodist Conference 




Stone Chapel, Pipe Creek, Maryland 

in America. It met in Philadelphia in July, 1773, with 
ten preachers present. The following appointments of 
preachers were made : "New York, Thomas Rankin, to 
change in four months ; Philadelphia, George Shadford, to 
change in four months ; New Jersey, John King, William 
Watters; Baltimore, Francis Asbury, Robert Strawbridge, 
Abraham Whitworth, Joseph Yearbry; Norfolk, Richard 
Wright; Petersburg, Robert Williams." New York re- 



METHODISM GROWS RAPIDLY 



57 



ported i8o members, Philadelphia i8o, New Jersey 200, 
Maryland 500, Virginia, 100; total, 1,160. Preachers, 10. 
This was the size of Methodism in America in 1773. 

Questions 

1. What British soldier surprised the Methodists in New York 
in 1767? 

2. What was the name of the first church in America, and 
where was it built ? 

3. Give the names of the first two preachers sent to America 
by Mr. Wesley. 

4. What preacher sent over by Mr. Wesley in 1771 became the 
leader in American Methodism ? 

5. When and where was the first Conference held in America? 



CHAPTER XIII 



STORMY DAYS OF THE REVOLUTION 

This storm, like many others, was preceded by bright 
sunshine. The second Conference was held in Philadel- 
phia, in May, 1774. It was found that the membership 
had increased from 1,160 to 2,073; nearly double in a year. 

The chief characteristic of the year 1774 w^as the 
marvelous success of Asbury in gathering into the 
societies important families in the vicinity of Baltimore. 
The most important of these converts was Henry Dorsey 
Gough, who possessed a fortune of more than $300,000. 
He was at first deeply prejudiced against Methodists, and 
forbade his wife going to hear them, but at last consented 
to go himself for the purpose of making sport of Asbury. 
The solemn manner of the preacher impressed him, and 
by the Holy Ghost he was deeply convicted of sin. While 
in this state of mind he was passing one day the cabin 
of one of his Negroes and heard the voice of prayer and 
praise. 

He was deeply moved at his own ingratitude. A day 
or two later he left the dinner table and went to his room 
determined to find peace. Soon he returned crying, 'T 
have found the Methodists' blessing ! I have found the 
Methodists' God!" One hundred persons, white and 
black, were employed about his home, and he erected a 
chapel on his premises, the first Methodist church with a 
bell, and every morning and evening family and servants 
were called for worship. There was preaching every 
Sabbath. 

As a result of such labor it was found at the third 
Annual Conference, held, like the others, in Philadelphia, 

58 



STORMY DAYS OF THE REVOLUTION 



59 



1775, that the mcm])ership had increased from 2,073 
3,148. The great bulk of increase was in the South, Balti- 
more city alone reporting 840 members. 




Francis Asbury 



6o JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



But the storm was gathering. The American colonies 
were already resisting the oppressive British rule. The 
battle of Lexington was fought April 19, 1775, about one 
month before the last Conference; the battle of Bunker 
Hill was fought June 17, one month after the Conference. 
The country was therefore in the midst of war. Most 
of the Methodist preachers were Englishmen, and many 
of them sympathized with the British cause, though some 
were true to the colonies. However, as a class they were 
strong in denouncing the war spirit and the position of 
the colonists in resisting British authority. 

In the midst of circumstances already embarrassing, 
John Wesley, following his honest convictions, did a 
thing which proved very indiscreet. He published his 
views on the question at issue between the colonies and the 
mother country. He called it a ''Calm Address,'' but it 
provoked a storm because it advised the colonists to sub- 
mit to British rule. 

Now, when we remember that Methodism in America 
was as fully under Wesley's control as that in England, 
we can see how in such time all Methodists, and especially 
all the preachers, were suspected of disloyalty and looked 
upon as British sympathizers. As such they were fer- 
vently hated and persecuted. This state of things greatly 
hindered the progress of the church for several years. 
However, the Conference of 1776, held for the first time 
in Baltimore, showed an increase of 773 members; a total 
of 4,921. This is not surprising, even with all the opposi- 
tion, when it is known that George Shadford and his 
colleagues on the Virginia Circuit had 800 additions to 
the church that year. 

The opposition became so strong that most of the 
preachers, who were English subjects, returned home, 
both for their own safety and because their usefulness 



STORMY DAYS OF THE REVOLUTION 6i 



here was largely ended. Those who remained were forced 
to endure persecutions of the severest type, the story of 
which will be told in the next chapter. 

Questions 

1. What noted Methodist was converted near Baltimore, in 
1774, through the labors of Asbury ? 

2. Tell the story of his conversion. 

3. Why were all the Methodist preachers suspected of dis- 
loyalty during the Revolutionary War? 

4. How was the progress of Methodism affected by the Revo- 
lutionary War? 

5. What mistake did Mr, Wesley make at the outbreak of the 
Revolutionary War ? 



CHAPTER XIV 



HEROIC METHODISM 

The hardships endured by the Methodists during the 
Revolutionary War developed heroes. At the very head 
of the list stands Francis Asbury. Unlike the most of 
his English brothers, he stood by the work at the risk 
of his life. After the Conference of 1776 he went to 
work on the Baltimore Circuit. While here he heard 
with sorrow of the departure for England of Rankin 
and Shadford, leaving him the only British Methodist 
preacher on the continent. His heroic nature as well 
as the divine leading induced him to stay. 

However, he was soon suspected of disloyalty, and 
his life was in danger. His carriage was shot through, 
and he was arrested and fined £5 for preaching the 
gospel. In Maryland the law was such that every man 
could be forced to take up arms. This being against 
Asbury's conscience as a preacher, he retired to Dela- 
ware. For a season he made his home with Judge White. 
Judge White was arrested April 12, 1777, because, being 
a Methodist, he was supposed to be a British sympathizer. 
Asbury prudently left his home and for a month was 
concealed in the swamps and in the homes of strangers. 
Judge White was released after five months' imprisonment 
on the false charge, and with him Asbury spent many 
pleasant months. While in this retirement Asbury gained 
the friendship of Judge Barrett and Governor Bassett. 
The former built Barrett's Chapel, near Frederica, Dela- 
ware, and Governor Bassett became a great help to the 
Methodists. Asbury was in this kind of retirement for 

62 



HEROIC METHODISM 



63 



two years, 1778-1780, but even during that period this 
hero did much valuable work. 

Freeborn Garrettson, another hero of this period, was 
received into Conference in 1776. He was raised on the 
Eastern Shore of Maryland, and in his youth heard 
Strawbridge preach in a neighbor's house ; being deeply 
impressed. When about sixteen years of age he heard 
Francis Asbury preach, and his conviction became pun- 
gent and abiding. For three years he sought for peace in 
vain, for he had not yet surrendered to be an open follower 
of Christ, much less to be a Methodist. One day, as he 
was riding through the woods, he seemed to hear a voice 
saying, ''These three years I have come seeking fruit on 
this fig tree, and find none. I have come once more to 
offer you life and salvation, and it is the last time." He 
threw the reins on the horse's neck, crossed his hands, 
and cried, - "Lord, I submit." He was immediately con- 
verted, and praised the Lord aloud. 

He went home, conducted family worship, set his slaves 
free the next day, and in a few weeks was holding pub- 
lic meetings. His exhortations to sinners were of such 
power that many fell to the floor crying aloud for mercy. 
He lived in stirring times, and had his trials, but he was 
made of heroic material. Devoted to the American side 
during the Revolution, he was yet conscientiously opposed 
to war. The oath of allegiance then administered in 
Maryland required a willingness to take up arms, and 
this Garrettson refused to do. He, however, went on 
preaching, being continually persecuted as disloyal. In 
Dorchester County he was arrested by a mob and thrown 
into jail, but he preached through the window. 

After Maryland and Virginia he went into Delaware. 
Here his arrest was ordered. The magistrate met him in the 
road and beat him with a club for no other offense but 



64 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



sitting quietly on his horse and looking at him. The 
officer feared at first that he had killed the preacher, as 
he lay insensible for some time. When he revived he 
began to pray for his assailant and to exhort him to be 




Preaching in Prison (Cambridge, Maryland) 



saved. The officer wsls now thoroughly overcome, and 
said, "Mr. Garrettson, I w^ill take you in my carriage 
v^herever you v^ant to go." This is only one of many 
such experiences in the life of this hero. 

Benjamin Abbott v^as a hero of heroes. Born on 
Long Island, New York, in 1732, he spent his early life 



HEROIC METHODISM 



65 



in Philadelphia as an apprentice to a hatter. He was 
a careless boy and a very wicked man until he was forty 
years old, when he was soundly converted. He had been 
brought up a Calvinist, and when conviction seized him 
he thought he was a ''reprobate" and could never be 
saved. He came near committing suicide, but was finally 
led to surrender to Christ, and then, he says : ''My heart 
felt as light as a bird. I arose and called up the family, 
and took down the New Testament, sang and prayed." 
The next day he began to preach to all he met. 

From such a start he soon becamxC an itinerant, trav- 
eling over New Jersey and Delaware. His preaching 
was attended with marvelous effects. Hundreds fell 
unconscious under his preaching, and they soon arose to 
praise God for saving them. On one occasion he cried, 
"For aught I know there may be a murderer in this con- 
gregation." A man arose to leave the house, but fell 
down crying that it was he, for he had killed a man 
fifteen years before. 

Questions 

1. In what State and with what judge did Asbury find refuge 
during the Revolution ? 

2. Tell the story -of Freeborn Garrettson's conversion, and of 
his persecutions in Maryland and Delaware. 

3. What two noted characters were won for Methodism by 
Asbury during his enforced hiding? 

4. Tell the story of the conversion of Benjamin Abbott. 

5. Tell where Abbott preached, and give an example of his 
preaching power. 



CHAPTER XV 



THE CHURCH ORGANIZED IN AMERICA 

This was accomplished at the famous Christmas Con- 
ference, held in Lovely Lane Chapel, Baltimore, Mary- 
land, December 25, 1784. Up to this time the Methodists 
of America were under Mr. Wesley's absolute jurisdic- 
tion, and the work here was looked upon as a mission 
of the societies in England. 

There were now several reasons for separate organ- 
ization in America: i. The colonies had gained their 
independence of British rule. 2. Mr. Wesley was now 
eighty-one years old, and must soon cease his labors. 
3. The Methodist societies had grown to considerable 
size, having in them about fifteen thousand members and 
eighty-four traveling preachers. 4. These were all with- 
out the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, as 
none of Mr. Wesley's ministers were or could be ordained. 

So, after long considering the matter, and after much 
urging from his American brethren, Mr. Wesley sent 
over Dr. Thomas Coke, an elder in the Church of Eng- 
land, having first ordained him to be superintendent of 
the churches in America. He also selected Francis 
Asbury, already here on the field, to be joint superin- 
tendent with Coke. With Coke came Richard Whatcoat 
and Thomas Vasey, whom Mr. Wesley had first ordained 
deacons, then elders. These ordinations took place at 
Bristol, England; Mr. Wesley was assisted by Dr. Coke 
and Rev. James Creighton in the ordination of Whatcoat 
and Vasey, after which he ordained Coke to be superin- 
tendent — or bishop, as afterward called. 

66 



THE CHURCH IN AMERICA 



67 



The party reached New York Noveml)er 3, 1784, and 
were warmly welcomed by John Dickins, then pastor in 
the city. Coke preached, and the party then pushed on 
to Philadelphia. From here they proceeded to Delaware, 
and Coke was the guest of Judge Bassett, who, though 
not a member of the Methodist society, was erecting a 




Lovely Lane Chapel (Baltimore^ Maryland) 



chapel at his own expense. Here he met Freeborn Gar- 
rettson on Sunday, the 14th, and the two went to Barrett's 
Chapel, then in the midst of a forest. It was a Quarterly 
Meeting occasion, and there was a large crowd, among 
whom were fifteen preachers. After administering the 
Lord's Supper to more than five hundred Coke preached. 
As the sermon concluded he saw a plainly dressed but 
robust-looking man making his way through the crowd 
and walking up into the pulpit. The stranger took Dr. 



68 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



Coke in his arms and kissed him. This stranger was 
Francis Asbury. 

Coke called the preachers together at the close of the 
service, and it was agreed to send Freeborn Garrettson 
"like an arrow, over North and South" to send messengers 
to his right and left, and gather all the preachers into 
Baltimore for Conference on Christmas Eve. Sixty 
preachers were present when the time came. A letter 
from Wesley addressed "To Dr. Coke, Mr. Asbury, and 
our brethren in North America" was solemnly read. It 
set forth his reasons for organizing a church, his au- 
thority in the ordination of the men sent over, and his 
desires concerning the character of the church to be 
organized. 

Mr. Wesley's desires were all met, with the slight ex- 
ception that Asbury refused to be ordained bishop, or 
superintendent, unless in addition to Mr. Wesley's ap- 
pointment of him for that office he should be elected by 
the preachers. This was unanimously done, and he was 
ordained by Coke, assisted by Otterbein, of the German 
church, the latter being a favorite friend of Asbury. 
Deacons and elders were ordained at this Conference, and 
the first Methodist Discipline was adopted. In it the 
government of the Church was fully set forth. Of the 
Conference Whatcoat wrote, "We agreed to form a Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, in which the liturgy as presented 
by the Rev. John Wesley should be read, and the sacra- 
ments be administered by a superintendent, elders, and 
deacons." The new church thus had its liturgy, for it 
adopted "The Sunday Service of the Methodists in North 
America," prepared and sent over by Mr. Wesley. Ac- 
cordingly, the early Methodist preachers read prayers, 
and wore gowns and bands in the pulpit. During the 
Conference Coke preached every day at noon, and other 



THE CHURCH IN AMERICA 



69 



preachers morning and evening. The new church met 
with the universal favor of the societies, and was the 
nucleus of the most efYective soul-saving agency on this 
continent, if not in the world. 

Questions 

1. When and where were the Methodist societies of America 
organized into a church ? 

2. What reasons led Mr. Wesley to consent to this organiza- 
tion ? 

3. Whom did Mr. Wesley send over to organize the church? 

4. Who was sent out to call the preachers together, and how 
many came ? 

5. What kind of church was organized, and who became its 
first bishops? 



CHAPTER XVI 



GROWING NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, AND WEST 

The Christmas Conference, which organized the 
church, decided to build a college at Abingdon, Mary- 
land. Early in June of the next year, 1785, Asbury laid 
the corner stone of the college, the first school under 
Methodist control in America. It was called — -for our 
first two bishops — ''Cokesbury." It was never a success. 
After four years it had only thirty students, and in 1795 
it was destroyed by fire. This is part of Asbury's record 
concerning it: 'The Lord called neither Mr. Whitefield 
nor the Methodists to build colleges. I wished only for 
schools; Dr. Coke wanted a college.'' 

1. North. William Black, the founder of Methodism 
in Nova Scotia, was at the Christmas Conference look- 
ing for help for the Canada work. The Conference set 
apart Freeborn Garrettson and James Cromwell for this 
field. They soon embarked for Halifax and established 
a society. Methodism took a strong hold in Canada, and 
Garrettson's influence there became almost equal to that 
of Wesley in Europe or of Asbury in America. 

2. East. Methodism was introduced into New Eng- 
land in 1789. This was difficult soil, but it found a 
successful sower in the fearless and powerful Jesse Lee. 
He had been converted in A^irginia in 1773, and was soon 
preaching on the long circuit. 

At the Conference of 1782 Asbury persuaded him to 
enter the itineracy. The influence of his preaching was 
equally great upon himself and his hearers. At times he 
was overcome with emotion, and often the congregation 

70 



GROWTH 



71 



wept until lie could not be heard. II is oratorical power 
and his courage fitted him for his great work. 

We trace him on his first New England Circuit, beginning 




Francis Asbury on His Itinerant Tour in 177 i 



at Norwalk, Conn., where, unable to get a house, he 'Svent 
into the street, and began to sing, and then prayed and 
preached to a decent congregation." Four days later he 



72 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



is in New Haven, preaching in the courthouse to a crowd. 
At Fairfield four women and one man were the congre- 
gation at first, but as he went on he had forty hearers. In 
July he enters Boston, stands on a table in Boston Com- 
mon, and preaches to two or three thousand people. The 
work was greatly opposed, but soon this hero had planted 
Methodism in the important centers of this difficult field. 

3. West. That part of our country lying west of the 
Allegheny Mountains began to be settled about the close 
of the i8th century. Methodist itinerants followed the 
settlers into the forest. Soon after Daniel Boone settled 
in Kentucky local preachers brought Methodism there. 
So everywhere. Stevens says of these early heroes, *The 
adventures and hairbreadth escapes of McHenry, Lee, 
Kobler, Cook, Ogden, Burke, Garrett, and others would 
furnish a modern Tasso with matter for an epic." Their 
heroic adventures laid the foundation of a strong Meth- 
odism in all the West. 

4. South. The General Conference of 1800 was held 
in Baltimore, and was the scene of a remarkable revival. 
Hundreds of conversions took place in the city, and the 
preachers, aflame with zeal, went to their circuits and 
kindled revival fires everywhere. It spread further south 
with great vigor. It continued for several years, and 
under its inspiration Methodism pushed further west; 
entering Indiana in 1802, when there were only a few 
settlers. It took root in Illinois in 1804. In 1805 Asbury 
sent Elisha M. Bowman as a missionary to the "Ter- 
ritory of Louisiana/' thus kindling Methodism in the 
Southwest. 

5. Camp meetings. Another result of the great reviv- 
al was camp meetings. They arose in Kentucky under 
the labors of two brothers, John Magee, a Methodist 
local preacher, and William Magee, a Presbyterian min- 



GROWTH 



73 



ister. They were making a preaching tour tliroiigh the 
State when so much interest was taken that at the next 
round they found many families encamped in the woods. 
TIuis begun, the camp meeting has been the source of 
much good. At times as many as twenty thousand per- 
sons were present, and so many fell under the power 
of God that they were laid in rows to prevent their be- 
ing trodden upon. At a meeting at Cane Ridge three 
thousand were thus down at one time. Owing to the 
excitement, the Presbyterians soon gave this means of 
grace entirely to the Methodists. We gratefully received 
it, and made excellent use of it. 

Bishop Asbury died near Fredericksburg, Virginia, 
Sunday, March 31, 181 6, in the seventieth year of his age 
and the fifty-fifth of his ministry. In his American min- 
istry he preached 16,500 sermons, ordained 4,000 
preachers, and traveled on horseback and in carriage 
247,000 miles. He takes rank with Wesley and White- 
field as one of the great characters of Methodism and of 
the Christian world. 

Questions 

1. Give the history of the first Methodist college in America. 

2. To what country north of us did Methodism early spread, 
and who was sent there by the Christmas Conference ? 

3. Who introduced Methodism into New England? Tell of 
his early life. 

4. When did the first General Conference meet? What re- 
markable event occurred at the General Conference of 1800? 

5. Tell how camp meetings originated. 



CHAPTER XVII 



SOME GREAT BRANCHES OF THE MAIN TREE 

1. The Methodist Protestant Church. A controversy 
which had gone on for several years culminated in 1830 
in the organization in Baltimore of the Methodist Protest- 
ant Church. The "reformers" were strongly opposed to 
having bishops and also to having presiding elders. Those 
dissatisfied expressed their sentiments in a somewhat 
bitter way in the Repository, a paper published at Tren- 
ton, New Jersey, and in another called 'The Mutual 
Rights of the Ministers and Members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church." 

The wide circulation of these papers naturally excited 
opposition on the part of the authorities of the church, 
and ministers were forbidden to aid their circulation. 
Some persisted, were brought to trial, and were expelled. 
Alany members were excluded on the same ground. These 
formed the nucleus of the Methodist Protestant Church. 
Their government differs mainly from the parent church 
in that they have no bishops or presiding elders, but elect 
presidents, who practically do the work both of elders 
and bishops. Their official paper is the Methodist Protest- 
ant, established in 1834. Their statistics for 1920 report 
1,340 preachers and 186,873 members. 

2. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In 1845 
this important division of Methodism was organized. 
From its foundation in the United States down to 1800 
the Methodist Episcopal Church had taken strong ground 
against slavery, but after that date there was a toning 
down of its sentiments for a number of years. 

74 



GREAT BRANCHES 



75 



When the al)olition sentiment l)ecame strong in the 
North — from 1833 on — the question l)egan to be hotly 




Thomas Coke 

discussed in the church. The church in the North de- 
manded a stronger attitude against slavery, both in the 
expression of sentiment by the General Conference and 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



in its requirements of members. Many difficult cases 
arose. Finally the crisis came at the General Confer- 
ence of 1844, when it was found that one of the bishops, 
J. O. Andrews, had become connected with slavery by 
marrying a woman who owned slaves. 

After a prolonged and able debate it was finally ordered 
that he "desist from the exercise of his office [of bishop] 
so long as the impediment remains." A committee of 
nine reported a plan of separation. Thirteen Southern 
Conferences sent delegates to a convention which met 
in Louisville, Kentucky, May i, 1845, and agreed upon 
an organization to be called "The Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South.'' The war which followed about sixteen 
years after this separation settled the slavery question, 
but the two Methodisms stand apart to this day, though 
active steps are now being taken to unite these branches 
of the great tree. 

This branch of Methodism has had marvelous suc- 
cess, and its grow^th has surpassed that of any other large 
Protestant body in America. In 1920 its membership was 
2,172,088. 

Questions 

1. When did the Methodist Protestant Church originate, and 
how ? 

2. What is its chief difference from the Methodist Episcopal 
Church ? 

3. What branch of Methodism arose in 1845? 

4. What was the chief cause of the separation? 

5. W^hat has been its measure of success? 



CHAPTER XVIII 



ENGLISH METHODISM SINCE THE DEATH OF 
WESLEY 

Mr. Wesley died in 1791. The great work of his life 
was now to be tested, and some feared that Methodism 
would fall to pieces after his departure. Mr. Wesley, 
while having no such fear, took wise precautions : First, 
by organizing American Methodism, in 1784, into a 
stable church, under the superintendency of bishops ;* and, 
second, by publishing the same year his Deed of Declara- 
tioUj which put English Methodism on a solid footing. 

Up to this time the property of the Methodists in Eng- 
land had been held by trustees for the use of such 
preachers as Mr. Wesley sent out, and after Wesley's 
death for such as the "Conference" sent. But the ''Con- 
ference" was a continually changing body, and did not 
mean anybody in particular; it was not a legal body, in- 
corporated. So Mr. Wesley named one hundred of his 
preachers as the legal Conference; they and their suc- 
cessors have been known as the "Legal Hundred." Ac- 
cording to Mr. Wesley's directions the "Legal Hundred" 
meet once a year at London, Bristol, or any other place 
of their selection. They were to appoint a president and 
secretary, and were not allowed to station a preacher 
at the same church for more than three years. The larg- 
est body of Methodists in England are called "Wesleyans." 

In July, 1791, the first Conference after Wesley's death 
met at Manchester. More than 300 preachers attended 
the session, and reported 78,993 members. William 
Thompson, who had been a lifelong friend of Wesley, 

77 



78 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



was elected president, and a letter from Wesley, left with 
Joseph Bradford for the purpose, was read to the Con- 
ference. The circuits were grouped into ''districts" ; not 
less than three nor more than eight composing a district. 
The preachers of a district were to meet and select a com- 
mittee who should transact any necessary business of the 
district during the year, and select one of their number 
to meet like representatives of the other districts, annually, 
to make the appointments of the preachers. This 
latter work, which had been done by Mr. Wesley alone, 
was now in the hands of the ''Stationing Committee." 

Following this Conference a widespread discussion be- 
gan as to the propriety of ordaining all the preachers, 
so that they could administer the sacraments, and it waxed 
warm. At the Conference of 1792 an unusual plan was 
followed. The sacrament question was the cause of a 
hopeless division of sentiment, so it was agreed to settle 
it by "drawing lots.'' In great solemnity the preachers 
knelt, while four of them led in prayer, after which Adam 
Clarke drew the lot, and then, standing on a table, pro- 
claimed it: "You shall not give the sacraments this year." 
At the Conference of 1793 the question was settled as 
follows: "We therefore resolved that in those places where 
the members of the society were unanimous in their 
desire for the sacraments the preacher should grant it, 
and that all distinctions between ordained and unordained 
preachers should cease, and being received by the Confer- 
ence and appointed to administer the sacraments, should 
be considered sufficient ordination." Thus the "Wes- 
leyan" body in England started on its great career fully 
organized. 

English Methodism has had great success and produced 
some wonderful characters. Among its great preachers 
was Jabez Bunting, born in 1770. A learned judge said 



ENGLISH METHODISM 



79 




Jabez Bunting 

of him : "Other preachers excelled him on some points, 
but none that I have ever heard equaled him as a whole." 



So JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



Robert Newton, born in 1780, as a preacher ranks with 
Bunting; indeed, as a popular orator, he stands first in 
English Methodism. Throngs of Methodists and others 
attended his ministry in London, Dublin, and Edinburgh. 
Richard Watson became the leading theologian of this 
period of Methodism. He was born in 1781, and becoming 
a local preacher at fifteen years of age, was received into 
Conference before he was sixteen. His great work was 
the writing of that masterpiece of theology. Theological 
Institutes, completed in 1828. It has been a standard 
both in Europe and America. 

Adam Clarke, scholar, commentator, preacher — and 
scarcely excelled in any — was born in Ireland in 1760; 
converted at seventeen, he was in Wesley's Kingswood 
School at twenty. Here he found a guinea while digging 
in the garden, and with it bought a Hebrew grammar, 
and laid the foundation of his great learning and lifework. 
He finished his Commentary on the whole Bible in 1825, 
after forty years of labor. It is still an authority among 
Methodists everywhere. 

The Methodists of England are a lively, progressive 
folk, and exert a great influence for Christ. They have 
grown until they number more than 7,000 preachers and 
more than 1,500,000 members. We American Methodists 
may justly be proud of our mother church in England. 

Questions 

1. When did John Wesley die? What .was the state of Meth- 
odism at that time ? 

2. What is the name of the chief body of Methodists in 
England ? 

* 3. Name two of the great preachers in English Methodism. 

4. Name its great theologian and its great commentator. 

5. Tell the story of Adam Clarke. 



CHAPTER XIX 



AMERICAN METHODISM 1844-1918 

We have traced the history of general Methodism down 
to 1844, and that of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, the Methodist Protestant Church, and the Eng- 
lish Wesley ans down to 1920. We must now glance at the 
Methodist Episcopal Church 1844-1918. 

Among the debaters of the slavery question at the 
General Conference of 1844 was Peter Cartwright. He 
was born in Virginia in 1785, but moved to the then Far 
West in his boyhood, settling in Kentucky. According 
to his own account there were then "no schools worth 
the name, no mill within forty miles, and imported tea, 
coffee, and sugar were unknown." He was converted at 
seventeen, and at eighteen was received into Conference 
and became a very useful preacher in the wild life of those 
early days in the West. He was a presiding elder for fifty 
years, and died in 1872. He was most heroic and one 
of the unique characters of Methodism. 

During 1849 Methodism was officially introduced on 
the Pacific Coast — in California and in Oregon. John 
Owens, of Indiana, was appointed to that work, and 
crossed the plains with farm wagons drawn by oxen. 
William Taylor, of the Baltimore Conference, in later life 
missionary bishop for Africa, went the same year, having 
bought a church and shipped it by way of Cape Horn to 
San Francisco. 

In 1872 fraternal relations with the Church South were 
established, and a proposition for the union of the two 

81 



82 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



Methodisms was made by our bishops. This proposition 
is still being considered, with ever-increasing prospects 
of union. 

The first one hundred years of organized Methodism in 
America ended in 1884. The event was celebrated by the 
''Centennial Conference" held in Baltimore that year, ten 
branches of Methodism being represented. 

When the General Conference of 1888 met in New 
York it was found that five women had been elected as 
lay delegates, and were present. After much debate it 
was determined not to admit them, but to refer the ques- 
tion to the vote of the whole church. The question was 
not finally settled until the General Conference of 1900, 
when, after a favorable vote by the members of the 
churches and the Annual Conferences, women delegates 
were finally admitted. 

A few of the many great men of this period may be 
mentioned: John P. Durbin, born in Kentucky in 1800, 
was converted at eighteen and soon began to preach, but 
lost his voice because of extreme vehemence. Later 
he was advised to go to the cabins of the colored people 
and talk religion to them. His voice was soon recovered, 
and he laid the foundations of the simple but beautiful 
style which made him mighty in his subsequent ministry. 
As a camp meeting preacher in the West, and as chaplain 
of the Senate at Washington, he charmed both backwoods- 
man and senator alike. This prince among preachers 
died in 1876. 

Matthew Simpson, born in Ohio in 181 1, was early 
converted, studied medicine, entered the ministry, and 
joined the Pittsburgh Conference in 1834. His eloquence 
was the pride of Methodism for a quarter of a century. 
His style was simple and natural. AMiether preaching 
to the farmers of the West or to the learned preachers 



AMERICAN METHODISM, 1844— 1918 83 




Bishop Simpson 

of the great Ecumenical Conference in London, he had 
the same power to win, thrill, and enthuse. 

The General Conference of 1884 elected William Tay- 
lor missionary bishop for Africa. Born at Rockbridge, 



84 JUNIOR HISTORY OF AlETHODISM 



Virginia, in 1821, he was sixty-three years of age when 
elected. He had had experience as a missionary in Cali- 
fornia, Australia, South America, and South Africa. His 
heroic pathfinding work for Christ in the Dark Continent 
for twelve years attracted the attention of the whole 
Christian world, and gave Africa a warm spot in the 
heart of the church. Because of ill health he retired at 
the General Conference of 1896, honored by the whole 
world. 

The General Conference of 1900, meeting in Chicago, 
removed the time limit from the pastoral term, admitted 
lay delegates to the General Conference in equal num- 
bers with the ministers, ordered the preparation of a new 
hymnal, and admitted the first women as delegates to the 
body. 

The General Conference of 1908 took forward steps for 
the union of all Methodist bodies in America, changed 
the name "presiding elder" to "district superintendent," 
made radical provision for the better support of Confer- 
ence Claimants, and elected eight bishops. 

The General Conference of 1916 made a notable revi- 
sion of the Ritual, approved the movement for the equal 
political franchise of women, adopted a world program 
for its missionary work, and provided for the observance 
of the Centenary of the organized missionary work of 
the church during the year 1919. 

In 1920 the Methodist Episcopal Church had more than 
20,000 preachers and 4,175,502 members. 

Questions 

1. Tell about Peter Cartwright. 

2. Tell about the beginning of Methodism on the Pacific Coast. 

3. Tell about the admission of women to the General Con- 
ference. 

4. Tell about Matthew Simpson. 

5. Tell about William Taylor. 



CHAPTER XX 



MOST RECENT EVENTS IN METHODISM 

I. The Centenary of 1919 

The year 1919 marks a new era in the history of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. It was in 1819 that Meth- 
odist missionary work began, and the Missionary Society 
of the church was organized. The General Conference of 
1916 arranged for the observance of this centenary by ap- 
pointing a strong committee with Dr. S. Earl Taylor as 
executive secretary. 

It v/as determined that the Centenary should spend its 
chief energies, not in glorifying the past, but in working 
out a program that would put the missionary work of the 
church on a really efficient basis at home and abroad. 
Careful surveys of all fields revealed the need of $40,000- 
000 for home fields and an equal -amount for foreign 
fields. To this was added $25,000,000 for war emergency 
and reconstruction. Thus the church was asked to show 
its gratitude for the past and its determination for rapid 
advance for the future by contributing $105,000,000 in 
five years beginning with 1919. 

A great campaign of education, intercession, steward- 
ship, and finance was carried forward from the summer 
of 1918 until the completion of the financial canvass in 
June, 1919. The subscriptions totaled more than $113,000- 
000. The educational, spiritual, and financial success of 
the Centenary gave new impulse to all the activities of 
the church throughout the whole world. 

85 



86 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISAI 



2. The General Conference of 1920 

This Conference, encouraged by the success of the 
Centenary movement, planned for enlarged work at home 
and abroad. For this purpose it elected seventeen new 
bishops, including tw^o Negroes. New residences for 
bishops were established at Indianapolis, Mexico City, 
Paris, Copenhagen, Bangalore, Calcutta, Singapore, and 
Foochow. These new centers of supervision were made 
necessary by the extended work of the church. The Con- 
ference also provided for the licensing of women as local 
preachers, and appointed a Committee on Conservation 
and Advance to carry forward and perpetuate the Cen- 
tenary movement. 

3. Death of James M. Buckley 

In 1920 James M. Buckley, after a very remarkable 
career as preacher, editor, and ecclesiastical statesman, 
came to his crowning. Though very delicate in early life, 
he fought his way to health, and lived to be more than 
eighty-four years of age. After serving as pastor of 
several of our largest churches he was elected editor of 
The Christian Advocate in 1880. Here he served the 
church for thirty-two years in a very unusual 
way. During most of this long period he was recognized 
as the leader in the General Conference, a most forceful 
champion of the faith against all opponents, and perhaps 
the most influential man in the church. 

4. Better Support of Conference Claimants 

As previously noted, the General Conference of 1908 
took a forward step for the better support of retired 
preachers and the widows and dependent children of 
deceased preachers. As a result most of the Conferences 



MOST RECENT EVENTS IN METHODISM 87 

now have endowment funds, the interest of which added 
to the annual collections has greatly increased the care 
taken of these worthy and dependent servants of the 
church. In 1908 the church paid to all its Conference 
Claimants $600,000. By 1922 this amount had increased to 
$1,643,000. 

Questions 

1. What events were celebrated in the Centenary of 1919? 

2. What plans were made for the Centenary ? Amount sub- 
scribed ? 

3. Tell something about the General Conference of 1920. 

4. Tell about James M. Buckley. 

5. Tell of the better support of Conference Claimants. 



CHAPTER XXI 



A GLIMPSE AT HOME MISSION FIELDS 

Our missionary work began in the homeland, and in a 
most tragic way. One Sabbath in 1816 John Stewart, a 
colored man who had been given to drunkenness, was 
converted under the preaching of ]\Iarcus Lindsey, in 
Marietta, Ohio. The next day he seemed to be led by a 
voice to Goshen, where he preached to the Delaware 
Indians, after he had charmed them with his singing. He 
then went to the upper Sandusky and preached to the 
'\Vyandot Indians. Many Indians, including several 
chiefs, were converted. 

The story of these remarkable facts aroused the whole 
church, and the need of leadership and money to properly 
carry on this work led to the organization of the Mis- 
sionary Society of our church. Gabriel P. Disosway, a 
devoted young business man of New York, first got the 
vision and urged the organization which was perfected in 
New York, April 5, 1819, and was adopted by the General 
Conference of 1820. Among the inspiring leaders of the 
society have been Nathan Bangs, Charles Pitman, J. P. 
Durbin, C. C. McCabe, A. B. Leonard, and S. Earl Tay- 
lor. 

The General Conference of 1904 separated our home 
and foreign work and ordered that after January i, 1907, 
the home work should be administered by a Board of 
Home Alissions and Church Extension, and the foreign 
by a Board of Foreign ]\Iissions. 

The Board of Home ]\Iissions and Church Extension 
carries on its work under the following departments : 



A GLIMPSE AT HOME MISSION FIELDS 89 



Church Extension, Frontier Work, City Work, Rural 
Work, and Evangelism. 

FIoME Mission Fields 

1. Indians. Beginning in 181 6, with the work of John 
Stewart among the Wyandots, the missions of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church among the Indians have continued 
with success to this day. There are in the United States 
350,000 Indians. They are very difficult to reach and 
save. We are now carrying on our work among 25 tribes 
and reaching a population of 13,000. We have 35 min- 
isters in these tribes and more than 2,500 members of 
the church. 

2. Negroes. Immediately after the Civil War the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church began its work of building schools 
and .churches among the Negroes. As 90 per cent of the 
Negroes are in 14 Southern States our missions to that 
race are chiefly in the South. 

Of the 2,000 preachers in our Negro Conferences nearly 
1,000 are in part or whole supported by our Board of 
Home Missions. We have to-day 20 Negro Conferences, 
2,000 preachers, and 354,000 members of church. Our 
schools and colleges among Negroes number 18, and have 
sent out 200,000 graduates. 

3. Mormons. The blackest spot on the fair face of our 
republic is Mormonism. It originated in 1830. Its growth 
during the nearly one hundred years has not been very 
rapid, as it now claims only 450,000 members. Of these 
293,000 are in Utah, 78,000 in Idaho, and 15,000 each in 
Arizona and Wyoming. They have been very ambitious 
to extend, and for this purpose have 1,400 missionaries in 
the field. Their appeal is to the lowest motives in human 
nature. 

Our church began its work among them in 1869, and 



90 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



now has 34 Sunday schools, 24 churches, and 2,000 mem- 
bers. But the largest results are not in the above figures, 
but in the gradual change of principles and conduct on the 
part of the Mormons themselves. For instance, they once 
preached and practiced polygamy, with all its sexual 
crimes, openly and boldly as the very basis of their reli- 
gion. To-day they deny it, though it is still in their creed 
and practiced by not a few. 

4. Foreign-Speaking Work. The Board of Home Mis- 
sions, besides helping liberally to support the work within 
the German, Swedish, and Norewegian-Danish Confer- 
ences in the United States, maintains missions among the 
Italians, Poles, Japanese, Chinese, Spaniards, and other 
foreign populations throughout our country. In all, our 
Home Mission work is conducted in 25 different lan- 
guages. 

5. Hawaii. Our work in Hawaii began in 1894, and 
is carried on successfully among the English, Japanese, 
Korean, and Filipino settlements found there. We have 
36 pastors and 2,000 members. 

6. Porto Rico. The United States government took 
possession of Porto Rico in 1898, and our mission work 
was opened there the next year, 1899, by the Rev. C. W. 
Drees. The work has met with more than ordinary suc- 
cess. We now have 14 missionaries, 13 native preachers, 
and more than 5,000 members. 

7. Special Department Work. In many of our cities the 
poorer sections are being greatly helped through the work 
carried on by "The Department of City Work." The 
same is true of the needy sections of our country dis- 
tricts through the labors of ''The Department of Rural 
Work." ''The Department of Church Extension" assists 
in building churches in the most needed places through- 
out the land. "The Department of Evangelism" seeks to 



A GLIMPSE AT HOME MISSION FIELDS 91 



make effective this supreme work of the churches every- 
where. ''The Frontier Department" is helping to plant 
churches in the new frontier sections. 

Questions 

1. Tell the story of John Stewart's conversion, and his call 
to preach to the Indians. 

2. Give some account of our mission work among Negroes. 

3. Tell about the Mormons, and our work among them. 

4. In how many languages do we conduct mission work in 
this country? 

5. Tell of our work in Hawaii and in Porto Rico. 



CHAPTER XXII 



A GLIMPSE AT FOREIGN MISSION FIELDS 

Interesting volumes might be written about our mis- 
sion work in foreign lands. Here we can only take a 
glimpse at the various fields. 

1. Africa. This, the first of our Foreign Missions, was 
begun in 1833. The heroic Melville B. Cox, the first 
missionary, was a consumptive, and lived only five months 
after reaching Liberia. The epitaph which he suggested 
for his grave has never ceased to inspire the church : 
"Though a thousand fall let not Africa be given up." 
The work which Cox had started was quickly taken up 
by others, and to-day we have successful missions in 
Liberia, Angola, and the Madeira Islands on the West 
Coast ; in the Congo region of Central Africa ; in Rhodesia 
and Portuguese East Africa on the East Coast; and in 
North Africa. We have 20,000 members in Africa. 

2. South America. In this, our twin continent, work 
was begun in 1836 by the appointment of Justin Spaulding 
to Rio Janeiro and John Dempster to Buenos Ayres. 
Until recent years our work has progressed slowly in 
South America, but we have missions in Argentina, Para- 
guay, Uraguay, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Pana- 
ma. With the changed conditions in South America, 
including religious liberty all over the continent, the out- 
look for our mission work is very bright. We have 11,- 
375 Methodists in South America. 

3. China. Our missions in this vast empire, containing 
one fourth of the world's population, began in 1847 ^y the 

92 



FOREIGN MISSION FIELDS 



93 



sending of J. E. Collins and Moses C. White with their 
wives as missionaries. We were ten years in China be- 
fore we had a single convert ; now we have six strong 
Conferences. With the new China our work is moving 
apace. We have 73,000 members in China. 

4. Europe. We are building a strong Methodism on 
the continent of Europe. Our work began there as fol- 
lows: Germany, 1849; Switzerland, 1856; Norway, 1853; 
Sweden, 1854; Denmark, 1857; Bulgaria, 1857; Italy, 
1871 ; Finland, 1883; France, 1907; Russia, 1907. In all 
Europe we have nearly 80,000 members. 

5. India. This has been one of our most popular and 
most successful mission fields. It was begun by the heroic 
William Butler at Bareilly, in North India, in 1856. Joel 
T. Janvier, a native, lent us by the Presbyterians, became 
Dr. Butler's interpreter, our first native preacher, and a 
man of great influence. He died in 1900. Dr. Butler died 
in 1899. James M. Thoburn went to India in 1859, was 
elected Missionary Bishop for Southern Asia in 1888, 
retired in 1908, having spent nearly fifty years of very 
successful work in India. William Taylor, afterward mis- 
sionary bishop for Africa, a mighty evangelist, laid the 
foundations of our work in South India. He ''scattered 
Methodism all over the map." We now have strong Con- 
ferences in India and the people coming in mass. Mem- 
bers of the church in India, 250,000. 

6. Malaysia. Work was begun here in the 'Tsland 
Empire" in 1885 by Bishop J. M. Thoburn and W. F. 
Oldham. Eight years later it was organized as a Con- 
ference. This vast territory, composed of the Malay 
Peninsula, pointing south from Asia, and the group of 
islands extending from its tip to the borders of Australia, 
contains a population of more than 70,000,000 people. 
Ours is the only American church at work in this vast 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



field. Singapore, one of the great cosmopolitan cities of 
the world, is the center of our work. 

7. Japan. Our mission was begun here in 1873 by 
R. S. Maclay, long a leader of our work in China. The 
progress here has been so great that it has been said, 
^'Nothing remains unchanged in Japan except its name." 
In 1907 our missions in Japan united with those of The 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and The Methodist 
Church of Canada to form "The Methodist Church of 
Japan." 

8. Mexico. William Butler, the heroic founder of our 
mission in India, was sent in 1873, to begin work in 
Mexico. The work has grow^n slowly because of Roman . 
Catholic opposition, and the disturbed state of the country. 
It was organized as a Conference in 1885. We have 
7,000 members in Mexico. 

9. Italy. This is one of our healthiest missions. It was 
begun in 1871 by Leroy M. Vernon. William Burt, now 
Bishop, did heroic work as Superintendent for several 
years. Our members number 3,664. 

10. Korea. Our first missionaries to Korea, W. B. 
Scranton and H. G. Appenzeller, went to the field in 1885. 
The work has prospered from the beginning. In Decem- 
ber, 1889, the first society was formed. A remarkable 
revival began in 1910 and has brought in the natives by 
the hundred. The present membership in Korea is 20,- 
000. 

11. Philippine Islands. Almost before the guns of 
Admiral Dewey's fleet had cooled in Manila harbor, 
Bishop J. M. Thoburn was on hand, preaching the gospel 
to thousands in a large hall in Manila. The islands have 
proven very fertile soil for Methodism, one of our most 
successful missions. As a result we have more than 54,- 
000 members in the Philippines. 



FOREIGN MISSION FIELDS 



95 



Summary of Foreign Missions, 1922 

Our Board of Foreign Missions supports 1,133 
sionaries and 16,425 native workers in 20 foreign fields. 
In those fields we have 2,725 churches with 697,436 mem- 
bers. 

Questions 

1. Tell the story of our first foreign missionary. 

2. Name all our foreign fields you can. 

3. Give some account of our work in India. 

4. Describe the beginning of our work in the Philippines. 

5. Give summary of our foreign missions. 



CHAPTER XXIII 



METHODIST WOMEN AT THE WORLD TASK 

I. The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society. The 
wretched condition of women in heathen lands, and the 
social customs of those lands which make it impossible 
for men missionaries to bring the gospel to the women, 
led inevitably to a great organization of women to assist 
in the task of saving the world. 

This society was organized in Boston, 1869, by eight 
consecrated women, among whom were Mrs. William 
Butler and Mrs. E. W. Parker, wives of missionaries in 
India. Some time before this J. M. Thoburn, a leader in 
our work in India, seeing clearly the need of women's 
work for women in that land, had written his sister, Isa- 
bella, then a school teacher in Ohio, to come to India to 
help save the women. She became the first missionary 
of the new society. 

This society divides our whole country into eleven sec- 
tions, called ''Branches,'' the New England, New York, 
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Northwestern, Des 
Moines, Minneapolis, Topeka, Pacific, and Columbia River 
"Branches." These have their own officers, raise their 
own funds, and send out their own missionaries. All 
the branches are represented in the General Executive 
which transacts the business of the Society. 

The societies in the local churches are called ''Auxil- 
iaries." These are supplemented by the organizations of 
young people. At last report there were in all 17,809 
organizations, with 617,553 members. The receipts for 
192 1 were $2,264,634. 

96 



WOMEN AT THE WORLD TASK 



97 



The society supports 648 missionaries in foreign fields. 
They labor in Africa, South America, Mexico, Italy, Bul- 
garia, Japan, India, Burma, Malaysia, Philippine Islands, 
China, and Korea. 

2. The Woman's Home Missionary Society. No race 
of people were ever more desolate than the Negroes of 
our Southland at the close of the Civil War. It was to 
help the women of this needy race that the Woman's 
Home Missionary Society was organized in Cincinnati 
in 1880. Each Conference is supposed to have its Con- 
ference Society, and a local society is provided for each 
church. The young people are organized into ^'Mothers' 
Jewels," ''Home Guards," and "Queen Esther Circles," 
according to age. 

At last report the society had a membership of 428,159, 
and total receipts for the year were $2,717,563. 

The field of work for the society was quickly broadened 
until it included, not only the Negro women of the South, 
but Mormon women and Indian women, and finally needy 
classes of people of all kinds in every part of our land. 
By the ministry of its schools, industrial institutes, homes 
for girls, city mission centers, hospitals, work of deacon- 
esses, and other agencies, the helpful hand of this society 
stretches to every part of our country. 

Including deaconesses, the Society supports 1,073 
workers in its many fields of Christlike ministry. 

3. Deaconess W 07'k, This is a recent agency in Meth- 
odism. It originated in our mission work in Germany in 
1874. It began in this country with the establishment of 
the Deaconess Home in Chicago in 1887. The General 
Conference of 1888 recognized the work and established 
the office of deaconess in the church. A deaconess is 
consecrated to the work of visiting the sick, relieving the 
poor, caring for neglected children, instructing the back- 



98 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



ward classes in better ways of life, and leading all classes 
to Christ. The deaconess wears a distinctive garb, which 
is well known and highly respected. 

This work has grown until to-day there are reported 53 
Deaconess Homes, located in our most important centers 
from coast to coast. There are also 26 Deaconess Hos- 
pitals in our country. There are 881 licensed deaconesses 
at work in the various fields, assisted by 142 probationers 
and 503 associate w^orkers, a total force of 1,526 devoted 
women in a most beautiful Christlike service. 

Questions 

1. What conditions led to the organization of the Woman's 
Foreign Missionary Society? 

2. Tell about the first missionary of this Societ3\ 

3. What led to the organization of the Woman's Home Mis- 
sionary Society ? 

4. To what classes does the society now minister and how? 

5. Tell all 3'ou can about deaconess work. 



CHAPTER XXIV 



SOME GREAT METHODIST AGENCIES 

1. Sunday School. Methodism has an interesting 
record in establishing and promoting Sunday schools. As 
one enters Christ Church, Savannah, Georgia, he sees 
a brass tablet which reads : "To the glory of God, in 
memory of John Wesley, priest of the Church of England, 
Minister to Savannah 1736-1737. Founder of the Sun- 
day School of the church. Erected by the Diocese of 
Georgia." This Sunday school is still going. It is forty- 
four years older than the Sunday school established by 
Robert Raikes in Gloucester, England, 1781, and usually 
accepted as the first Sunday school in the world. 

With the exception of the school in Savannah, estab- 
lished by John Wesley, the first Sunday school of record 
in America was established by Bishop Asbury in Hanover 
County, Virginia, in 1786. The General Conference of 
1790 gave official recognition to the Sunday school, and 
resolved, ''Let us labor as the heart of one man to establish 
Sunday schools in or near the place of public worship." 

This spirit of earnest endeavor to promote the Sunday 
school has been manifest throughout all the years of Meth- 
odist history. For this purpose the ''Sunday School 
Union" was organized in 1827. To increase its efficiency 
the General Conference of 1908 changed its name to "The 
Board of Sunday Schools" and enlarged its sphere of 
v/ork. Among our great Sunday-school leaders have 
been J. H. Vincent, J. L. Hurlbut, D. G. Downey, and 
Edgar Blake. 

2. The Epworth League. For some time prior to 1889 

99 



JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



there existed in the church five young people's societies 
of different names and plans of work. It was thought 
that a union of these into one society for the whole 
church was desirable. This was accomplished at the 
convention held in Cleveland, Ohio, May 14 and 15, 1889. 
The convention consisted of delegates from the Young 
People's Methodist Alliance, the Methodist Young Peo- 
ple's Union, the Oxford League, the Young People's 
Christian League, and the Young People's Methodist 
Episcopal Alliance. The new organization was christened 
'The Epworth League." The General Conference of 
1892 adopted the new organization, and its growth and 
usefulness has been -phenomenal. The Epzvorth Herald 
arose as the official organ of the League, edited by J. F. 
Berry, and soon passed the 100,000 mark in circulation. 
In 1904 J. F. Berry was elected bishop, and S. J. Herben 
became editor of the Herald. He was succeeded in 1912 
by Dan B. Brummitt. The following have served as 
General Secretaries of the League : E. A. Schell, W. P. 
Thirkield, E. M. Randall, W. F. Sheridan, and C. E. 
Guthrie. 

3. The Junior League, When the Epworth League was 
organized, provision was also made for the boys and girls; 
a form of constitution, a charter, and a plan of work very 
similar to those for the Seniors were adopted for the 
Juniors. Those in charge very wisely adopted a system of 
grading and adapted the course of study to the different 
ages. Mrs. Annie E. Smiley served very successfully as 
the first General Secretary of Junior League, and was 
followed by Miss Emma A. Robinson, who brought to her 
task great efficiency as leader of the Junior Army. The 
Junior Worker's Quarterly and the Epworth Herald are 
the official organs of the Junior League. 

4. Hospitals. In 1881 it was truly said that the Meth- 



SOME GREAT METHODIST AGENCIES 



lOI 



odist Episcopal Church was ''without a hospital or even a 
bed in a hospital." In 1887, through the liberality of 
George I. Seney, who gave $410,000 for the purpose, the 
Methodist Episcopal Hospital of Brooklyn was opened — 
the first of the denomination. In this hospital there are 
275 beds and more than 12,000 patients are treated 
annually. Value of property, $2,370,000. 

The Methodist Episcopal Hospital of Philadelphia was 
opened in 1892, with property valued at $570,000. This was 
made possible through the generous gift of Scott Stewart, 
M.D., who' left a large part of his estate for this pur- 
pose. The property is now valued at $1,000,000. Besides 
the above, Methodist hospitals have been established at 
Washington, Cincinnati, Saint Louis, Kansas City, and, 
in fact, in most of the large cities of the country. They 
now number 71, have 5,107 beds for patients, and employ 
1,707 nurses. 

5. Schools. Methodism from the beginning realized 
the importance of schools and the education of its people. 
Wesley, in the very year from which Methodism dates, 
1739, founded the school at Kingswood, England. At the 
Christmas Conference, 1784, when the church was organ- 
ized in America, steps were taken to build Cokesbury Col- 
lege — named for the two bishops — at Abingdon, Mary- 
land. This was done in 1785. It was soon destroyed by 
fire, but out of its ashes arose a multitude of others. 
Within a year Asbury planned an academy for each Con- 
ference territory. 

Our schools now number 130, with 51,190 students in 
the United States. In foreign fields we have 2,'S>2y schools 
of all grades wath 116,000 students. 

6. The Methodist Book Concern. The history of our 
Book Concern is a wonder story. It originated in 
Philadelphia in 1789, where John Dickins began the publi- 



102 JUNIOR HISTORY OF METHODISM 



cation of Methodist Hymnals. The Conference that year 
appointed him ''Book Steward," and he loaned the Con- 
cern $600, its first capital, to begin business. Its first 
catalogue contained only twenty-eight books, and they 
were all reprints — the crop of Methodist authors had not 
come on. Our country was then largely a wilderness, 
without railroads or steamboats. In 1804 the Concern 
was moved to New York. 

In 1820 the Western Methodist Book Concern was 
started in Cincinnati. The first number of The Christian 
Advocate appeared September 9, 1826, with Barber 
Badger, a layman, as editor. In 1836 the New York house 
was entirely destroyed by fire, but was quickly rebuilt. 
The Concern now has main offices at New York and Cin- 
cinnati, and depositories or branch offices at Chicago, 
Boston, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Kansas City, and San Fran- 
cisco. The successors to John Dickins have shown them- 
selves well adapted to their work. 

Dickins's catalogue of twenty-eight books has grown to 
more than three thousand, and the $600 borrowed capital 
has become a real capital of more than $7,000,000. In 
1789 the Concern had one employee; now it gives employ- 
ment to over 800. In 1789 it used 750 pounds of paper; 
last year the number was eleven millions. In 1792 it gave 
out of its earnings to retired preachers $266; last year it 
distributed $400,000. 

The task of the Book Concern is to furnish books, 
papers, and periodicals for the Methodist world — a big 
task well performed. 

7. Summary of World-Wide Methodism 

Members 

In the United States Methodism has 16 branches with .. 7,950,809 

In Canada Methodism has 2 branches with ...387,421 

In Europe Methodism has 5 branches with 1,269,482 



SOME GREAT METHODIST AGENCIES 



In Japan Methodism has i branch with. 20,000 

In Australasia Methodism has 2 branches with 204,395 

As a total for the world Methodism has 26 branches with. .9,832,107 

Questions 

1. What has been Methodism's relation to the Sunday school? 

2. Tell all you can about the Epworth League and the Junior 
League. 

3. Tell us about Methodist hospitals and Methodist schools. 

4. Tell the story of our Book Concern. 

5. Give number of branches and members in world-wide Meth- 
odism. 



